A COHERENT OFDM SWITCHING-SYSTEM FOR FLEXIBLE OPTICAL NETWORK CONFIGURATION

A coherent optical switching node based on the combination of a freque ncy conversion stage with a space switching matrix is proposed for fle xible interconnection of future integrated broad-band communication ne tworks. The basic system concept is presented together with the archit ecture of a demonstrator, which allows to study the functionality avai lable in future networks. The major subsystems and components of the d emonstrator are described, and experimental results concerning frequen cy stabilization, frequency switching, and space switching are present ed.