Abstract
Over the past two or three years, there have been dramatic illustrations of the potential of all-optical processing devices in performing some of the key functions required in high speed telecommunications networks. These advances have been spurred on by rapid practical developments in a number of key technology areas: (i) Fibre amplifiers, (ii) ultrafast pulse generation, (iii) soliton transmission, and (iv) fibre based optical processing elements. We now have the possibility of transmitting streams of ultrashort (~ps) pulses over essentially unlimited distances at speeds of 100 Gbit/s and beyond. The ultrashort soliton pulse source, commonly a diode-pumped mode-locked erbium fibre laser, provides low jitter, transform-limited pulses at flexible repetition rates from ~100 MHz to tens of GHz. The pulse trains are multiplexed to high aggregate data rates and launched into amplified transmission pipes. The data can then be manipulated (regenerated, routed, demultiplexed etc.) using relatively simple all-optical fibre based devices which keep the data in an optical format throughout the entire network. The most successful of these devices to date is the nonlinear optical loop mirror which has been employed in numerous laboratory demonstrations at speeds beyond 100 Gbit/s. One of the key advantages of an all-optical approach is the fact that data can be kept in an optical format during processing—this generally means that the device configurations are relatively simple and flexible. We illustrate this approach by discussing novel methods of soliton control (regeneration) and routing.
© 1995 Optical Society of America
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