Introduction to

Optical Switching

Lecture 23, Fall 2012

1
 What is an optical switch?

Light

Command

Light

Fall 2012, Lecture 23, Introduction to Optical Switching 2

 The Simplest Network Topology

Network Node Network Node

Transmission Link

Fall 2012, Lecture 23, Introduction to Optical Switching 3

 Wavelength Division Multiplexing

Optical Optical
Transmitter λ1 λ1, λ2, … λn λ1 Receiver

Optical Optical
Transmitter λ2 λ2 Receiver

Optical
Optical Dispersion
Fiber
Amplifier Compensation

Optical Optical
Wavelength Division
Transmitter λn Multiplexer
De-Multiplexer λn Receiver

• A wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) link

with 80 OC-192 wavelength channels operates at
close to 1 Terabit per second and carries just over
10,000,000 simultaneous phone calls
Fall 2012, Lecture 23, Introduction to Optical Switching 4
 Why do we need switches?
Mesh Networks

Recovery from link failure

Needs for Switches

• Network restoration
• Delivering information to the proper destination
• Delivering bandwidth where needed

Fall 2012, Lecture 23, Introduction to Optical Switching 5

 How is switching usually done?

Electrical
Optical Signals
Signals

Optical
Transceiver
Electronic
Switch

• Typical network nodes contain one or more optical transceivers and

optical-to-electrical-optical (OEO) conversion. 6
Fall 2012, Lecture 23, Introduction to Optical Switching
 What are some of the methods for
optical regeneration?
Diode Optical
Laser MOD
Output

Electrical
Driver
Input
Optical Transmiter

Optical Receiver
Photo-
Optical
diode
Input

Electrical LA/
CDR TIA
Output AGC

TIA = Transimpedance Amplifier

MOD = Optical Modulator
LA = Limiting Amplifier
AGC = Automatic Gain Control
CDR = Clock and Data Recovery
Fall 2012, Lecture 23, Introduction to Optical Switching 7
 “3R” Regeneration

• Re-Shaping
• Re-Amplification
• Re-Timing

We can do re-amplification in the

optical domain but the others are
difficult

OPTI 500, Spring 2011, Lecture 2, Introduction to Networks 8

 What are the advantages of optical
switches over electrical switches?

• Optical-to-electrical-to-optical conversion consumes a lot

of power
• Optical-to-electrical-to-optical conversion is expensive

Electronic Packet Switching

• Data throughput is limited by speed of electronics
• The electronics must be designed to work with the
specific data format (e.g. SONET, Ethernet) and data
rates
→ This means the network nodes are not “transparent”

Fall 2012, Lecture 23, Introduction to Optical Switching 9

 Are optical switches capable of
switching an optical signal faster than
electrical switches?

• No
• But, by leaving signals in the optical domain we
avoid delays and bit rate limitations from OEO
conversion and electronic packet switching
• But, we currently have no way to due fast IP-
type packet routing in the optical domain

Fall 2012, Lecture 23, Introduction to Optical Switching 10

What are the key characteristics for an
individual optical switch?
• Switching Speed
• Signal Quality
– Insertion Loss
– Crosstalk
– Polarization Sensitivity
• Reliability
• Size and Power Consumption
• Cooling Requirements

Additional Characteristics
• Power Handling (maximum optical power)
• Transparency vs. Opaqueness (multiple data formats?)
• All-Optical Operation (no electronics used)
• What is Switched (wavelengths?, packets?, …)
Fall 2012, Lecture 23, Introduction to Optical Switching 11
 Switching “Granularity
What “chunk” of the optical signal to we switch?

“Optical Switch Fabrics,” Vlachos, 2009

“GMPLS,” Farrell, 2006

Cvijetic, 2012

Fall 2012, Lecture 23, Introduction to Optical Switching 12

 Are there any situations where cross-
talk can be beneficial?

Yes – for multicasting.

Fall 2012, Lecture 23, Introduction to Optical Switching 13

What are the key characteristics for an
optical switch array?
• Dimensions (e.g. 1 input x 2 outputs, 200 x 200, …)
• Blocking vs. Non-Blocking
A non-blocking switch can connect any available
input port to any available output port.

2x2
Blocking
Switch

Fall 2012, Lecture 23, Introduction to Optical Switching 14