A Novel Fiber-Based Variable All-Optical Packet Buffer Based on Self-Phase-Modulation-Induced Spectral Broadening

Abstract

We propose a novel optical delay control mechanism to realize variable all-optical packet buffering, in which the amount of optical delay is controlled by the input signal power level. It consists of a passive fiber delay loop followed by an optical power dependent filter, which is realized by means of two stages of self-phase-modulation-induced spectral broadening and offset filtering. The feasibility of the proposed optical packet buffer has been investigated through numerical simulations and experiments. No polarization control and additional laser source are needed.