Abstract

In future ultrahigh-speed self-routing optical packet networks, the packet header has to be examined at each packet node to retrieve the destination information, which is essential for making routing decision. As the data rate (several tens of Gbit/s) of the packet stream is far beyond the processing capability of the common electronics, several all-optical signal processing techniques have been proposed to perform ultrafast packet header recognition.^1,2 However, these approaches have limitations in terms of complexity and scalability.

© 2002 Optical Society of America