Abstract

With the rapid spread of cloud-based services, intra-datacenter traffic is growing exponentially. In typical present datacenters, top-of-rack switches, which act as gateways to computer systems, are interconnected via multi-tier electrical-switching networks. The electrical switch necessitates costly optical-to-electrical and electrical-to-optical conversion. Furthermore, its power consumption will explode due to the ever-increasing intra-datacenter traffic. To handle the large volumes of traffic in a cost-effective manner, optical switches are expected to play a key role in future intra-datacenter networks. To realize such cost-effective networks, high-port-count optical circuit switches will be a critical component. High-port-count optical circuit switches can be used to construct a flat network, and we can reduce the dependence on costly multi-tier electrical-switching networks. In this tutorial paper, we overview high-port-count optical circuit switch architectures for future intra-datacenter networks and discuss their characteristics. The high-port-count switch can be attained by combining the different dimensions of space and wavelength.

© 2021 Optical Society of America

Optical switching will innovate intra data center networks [Invited Tutorial]

Ken-ichi Sato
J. Opt. Commun. Netw. 16(1) A1-A23 (2024)

Tutorial on filterless optical networks [Invited]

Omran Ayoub, Oleg Karandin, Memedhe Ibrahimi, Andrea Castoldi, Francesco Musumeci, and Massimo Tornatore
J. Opt. Commun. Netw. 14(3) 1-15 (2022)

Design and Verification of Large-Scale Optical Circuit Switch Using ULCF AWGs for Datacenter Application

H. Nagai, Y. Mori, H. Hasegawa, and K. Sato
J. Opt. Commun. Netw. 10(7) B82-B89 (2018)

Large Port Count High-Speed Optical Switch Fabric for Use Within Datacenters [Invited]

A. Wonfor, H. Wang, R. V. Penty, and I. H. White
J. Opt. Commun. Netw. 3(8) A32-A39 (2011)

Prospects and challenges of optical switching technologies for intra data center networks

Ken-Ichi Sato, Hiroyuki Matsuura, Ryotaro Konoike, Keijiro Suzuki, Kazuhiro Ikeda, and Shu Namiki
J. Opt. Commun. Netw. 14(11) 903-915 (2022)