TWDM single-hop lightwave networks using multiple fixed transceivers at each station

Abstract

Time and wavelength division multiplexing (TWDM) has been shown to be one of the most promising ways to exploit the enormous bandwidth of single mode optical fiber. Lightwave networks employing TWDM are commonly based on optical passive star couplers. To overcome some existing technology constraints, a general hardware configuration that each station uses multiple fixed transmitters and fixed receivers is proposed. The maximal concurrency that can be possibly achieved by the TWDM single-hop lightwave networks with such general configuration is studied.