Optical Cross Connects

Optical networking with incredible amounts of bandwidth for relatively low cost is the key technology for satisfying the bandwidth demand required for dramatic growth in internet. This selected readings includes a collection of papers describing issues from optical components such as amplifiers to management of optical networks. Each chapter consists of tutorial papers providing an overview of the specific area and papers describing the details.

MEMS based optical cross connects experience a growing market demand. They are used in optical fiber networks as well as optical measurement systems where they add functionality or increase the performance of the systems. 2x2 MEMS optical cross connects proved excellent performance and large optical cross connects with over 100 input and output channels are used to route the worldwide data traffic. However, large optical cross connects have a high cost. Medium sized optical cross connects having four to sixteen input and output ports and moderate price clearly cover an industry need. Therefore, the subject of this thesis is the development of a matrix type optical cross connect with four or eight input and output ports. The pitch of the individual mirrors was set to 250 æm to enable a simplified assembly to fiber ribbons. A novel two-sided etching process of 110 æm thin silicon wafers enabled to fabricate silicon structures with a high accuracy on both sides of the wafer. The optical mirrors are situated vertically on very compact actuators with a footprint of 250 x 250 æm2. The actuators consist of a fixed electrode and a counterelectrode suspended by torsion beams with a diameter of 0.8 æm. The simulation, fabrication and characterisation of microfabricated Graded Index lenses are presented. Theses lenses are needed to collimate the light exiting from the single-mode fibers, which is necessary to reduce losses originating from diffraction. The lenses are fabricated from a selected multi-mode fiber with a parabolic refractive index distribution in the fiber core. Since the diameter of the lenses equals the diameter of the signal carrying fibers they can be passively aligned in U-grooves that are etched into the silicon chip. The lenses yielded optical losses of less than 2 dB for a coupling length of 2 mm. The measurements of complete optical cross connects yielded encouraging results. The maximal operating frequency was measured to be larger than 200 Hz and the op.

The Internet revolution. Once, the public was delighted with 14.4 modem access and fascinated by low-tech Web site content. But not for long. Technology has raced to keep up with users' calls for high-speed facilities and advanced applications. With the development of high-speed transmission media and the availability of high-speed hardware, we are

Introduction to optical networks -- Propagation of signals in optical fiber -- Components -- Modulation and demodulation -- Transmission system engineering -- Client layers of the optical layer -- WDM network elements -- WDM network design -- Control and management -- Network survivability -- Access networks -- Photonic packet switching -- Deployment considerations.

Optical networks have moved from laboratory settings and theoretical research to real-world deployment and service-oriented explorations. New technologies such as Ethernet PON, traffic grooming, regional and metropolitan network architectures and optical packet switching are being explored, and the landscape is continuously and rapidly evolving. Some of the important issues involving these new technologies involve the architectural, protocol, and performance related issues. This book addresses many of these issues and presents a birds eye view of some of the more promising technologies. Researchers and those pursuing advanced degrees in this field will be able to see where progress is being made and new technologies are emerging. Emerging Optical Network Technologies: Architectures, Protocols and Performance provides state-of-the-art material written by the most prominent professionals in their respective areas.