Abstract
Due to the exponentially increasing connectivity and bandwidth demand from the Internet, the most advanced examples of medium-scale fast reconfigurable photonic integrated switch circuits are offered by research carried out for data- and computer-communication applications, where network flexibility at a high speed and high connectivity are provided to suit network demand. Recently we have prototyped optical switching circuits using monolithic integration technology with up to several hundreds of integrated optical components per chip for high connectivity. In this paper, the current status of fast reconfigurable medium-scale indium phosphide (InP) integrated photonic switch matrices based on the use of semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) gates is reviewed, focusing on broadband and cross-connecting monolithic implementations, granting a connectivity of up to sixteen input ports, sixteen output ports, and sixty-four channels, respectively. The opportunities for increasing connectivity, enabling nanosecond order reconfigurability, and introducing distributed optical power monitoring at the physical layer are highlighted. Complementary architecture based on resonant switching elements on the same material platform are also discussed for power efficient switching. Performance projections related to the physical layer are presented and strategies for improvements are discussed in view of opening a route towards large-scale power efficient fast reprogrammable photonic integrated switching circuits.
Highlights
The global Internet Protocol (IP) traffic is increasing at incredible rates: Cisco projected that global mobile traffic will increase from 3.7 exabytes per month to 30.6 exabytes per month in 2020 [1] and there are no signs that this trend will stop anytime soon [2]
After reviewing the integration technologies that have enabled high-connectivity routing in planar optoelectronic circuits in Section 2, we focus on circuits that exploit the indium phosphide (InP)
We have demonstrated that orders of magnitude increases in reconfigurability is possible when the use of wavelength division multiplexing is combined with on-chip wavelength selective routing: The 8 × 8 InP integrated cross-connect provides a connectivity of up to 64 input and output channels [27] (Figure 2a)
Summary
The global Internet Protocol (IP) traffic is increasing at incredible rates: Cisco projected that global mobile traffic will increase from 3.7 exabytes per month to 30.6 exabytes per month in 2020 [1] and there are no signs that this trend will stop anytime soon [2]. New bursty types of packet-based traffic require network flexibility and reconfigurability at a high-speed, as well as high connectivity at low power consumption. This scenario, is not sustainable through packet routing and switching in the electronic domain only. Planar integrated photonic circuits offer an exciting opportunity to create single chip switching solutions for high capacity packet-compliant data routing [5], since they can potentially reduce the high costs and delays associated with opto-electronic conversion and electronic de/serialization. The strategies for improvements and challenges for future deployment of large-scale fast re-configurable power efficient switch matrices are discussed all over the sections, by looking at figures like connectivity, performance, power consumption, distributed on-chip optical monitoring, and interconnectivity
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
