Demonstration of 160 Gbit/s optical packet switching and buffering based on all-optical code label processing

Abstract

This paper demonstrates a successful 160 Gbit/s optical packet switching with dynamic buffering operation. Since the bit-rate (160 Gbit/s) of payloads is nearly equal to the chip-rate (200 Gchip/s) of labels, label recognition error tends to occur more easily compared with 40 Gbit/s payloads. To avoid the error, a narrowband (25 Gchip/s) OC label processing technique is used. Moreover, the signal to noise (S/N) ratio of 160 Gbit/s optical packets is basically lower than that of 40 Gbit/s ones because of crosstalk between adjacent pulses. Therefore, it is required to improve the extinction ratio in optical switching or buffering in order to prevent more decrease of S/N ratio of 160 Gbit/s packets. This work realized high extinction ratio in optical buffers using an additional optical switch.