Demonstration of programmable optical multicasting in a regional/metro area network

In this letter, we propose and demonstrate a novel optical multicast networ k using a wavelength-selective optical cross-connect and a multiwavelength optical source. The system allows wavelength-division-multiplexing optical sources to be separately maintained by a service provider and remotely modu lated by an independent content provider. In our demonstration, a multiwave length optical source and a common modulator are shared among the users rec eiving the multicast signal.