Five-stage free-space optical switching network with field-effect transistor self-electro-optic-effect-device...

Area of Science:

• Optoelectronics
• Optical switching networks
• Integrated photonics

Background:

• Development of high-speed optical switching fabrics is crucial for advanced communication systems.
• Smart-pixel technology offers a pathway to compact and efficient optical switching nodes.
• Previous research has explored various architectures for optical interconnects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design, construct, and test a five-stage, 32x16 interconnected optical switching fabric.
• To evaluate the performance of smart-pixel switching nodes in a banyan network architecture.
• To assess the feasibility of high-speed optical data transmission using integrated optoelectronic components.

Main Methods:

• Utilized monolithically integrated GaAs field-effect transistors, p-i-n detectors, and self-electro-optic-device modulators for switching nodes.
• Interconnected five stages of node arrays into a two-dimensional banyan network using computer-generated holograms.
• Employed two-dimensional fiber-bundle matrices for system input/output and advanced optical hardware including frequency-stabilized lasers.

Main Results:

• Successfully operated a five-stage switching fabric at 50 Mbits/s with 15 active inputs/outputs.
• Demonstrated the functionality of smart-pixel nodes integrating receivers, logic, memory, and transmitters.
• Achieved partial success in operating two stages at 155 Mbits/s, with 8 out of 15 active nodes functioning correctly.

Conclusions:

• The designed smart-pixel switching fabric demonstrates potential for high-speed optical communication.
• The banyan network architecture with integrated optoelectronic nodes is viable for optical switching.
• Further optimization is needed to achieve full operational capacity at 155 Mbits/s.