Ultra-fast optical switch with reconfigurable wavelength reuse functionality for dynamic flexible spectrum networks

Current optical interconnects are dominated by electrical wavelength converter module technologies which are not only power consuming but also bandwidth limited. We experimentally demonstrate a technique to maximize network robustness, flexibility and efficiency through combined adoption of energy-efficient VCSELs, distributed forward Raman, all-optical wavelength conversion and reuse. The precise wavelength selectivity of a fibre Bragg grating (FBG) is exploited to realize all-optical wavelength switch at 10 Gbps directly modulated 1549.60 nm VCSEL channel. The 6.2 dB flat gain of a forward Raman amplifier is exploited to achieve a 25.25 km downstream transmission of the switched channel incurring a 1.23 dB transmission penalty. Gain saturation of an Erbium-doped fibre amplifier (EDFA) is incorporated to achieve real-time all-optical data erase/rewrite. The 1549.62 nm VCSEL channel is further reused for upstream transmission of 8.5 Gbps data incurring a maximum penalty of 0.83 dB. Our concept is key for adoption in dynamic wavelength routing for spectral utilization in optical interconnect.