This paper proposes a photonic frequency-division-multiplexing (FDM) highway switch architecture consisting of 22 multi-frequency-channel switches (MFSs) using multiple ring resonators. An experimental MFS fabricated using a planar-lightwave-circuit (PLC) technology is demonstrated.

A rack-mounted prototype packet switch that makes use of wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) interconnect techniques has been developed. The switch has a maximum throughput of 320 Gbit/s. It features a WDM star-based switch architecture, an electrical control circuit layer and a broad-bandwidth optical WDM layer. The basic characteristics of the broad bandwidth WDM layer, such as level diagram, transmission characteristics, 32-wavelength-channel switching, and high-speed optical gating within a 1.6-ns guard time, are described. Experimental results demonstrated that the switch can perform practical self-routing switch operations, such as address-extraction, optical buffering, and filtering for packet speeds of up to 10 Gbit/s. The switch is promising for such applications as a terabit-per-second switching node in future WDM transport networks.

We have developed an open-architecture router (OAR) prototype using industrial standard hardware, software components, and interfaces. The prototype is built with Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture (ATCA)-compliant hardware. Carrier-grade Linux (CGL) is used as the operating system. A new OAR configuration method is described where industrial standard hardware and software interfaces are used. Basic forwarding functions with routing protocol processing are demonstrated for the first time.

A photonic ATM switch based on wavelength-division multiplexing will include several lossy passive devices, erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, and semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) in a cascade configuration for fast switching of ns order. Its level diagram, which is very different from those of optical transmission links, has not been adequately studied. This paper investigates the concept of basing the level design of the photonic asynchronous-transfer-mode (ATM) switch we are developing on its Q-factor. First, we derive formulation of the Q-factor in a single PD and a dual-PD in a Manchester-encoded signal, which has several merits in packet switching and that we believe will become popular in photonic packet switches. Using this formula, we show an example of the level-diagram design including the Q factor calculation in an optical combiner and distributor section without SOA in our photonic ATM switch. Next, we showed experimentally that the pattern effect in SOAs can be suppressed by using a Manchester-encoded signal. Finally, we confirm that the allowable minimum level diagram in the switch can be based on a simple Q calculation and easy measurement of a bit error rate (BER) in a back-to-back configuration when using a Manchester-encoded signal. These results show that basing the level design of photonic ATM switches on the Q factor is feasible when using a Manchester signals. This approach can be applied to various types of photonic packet switches.

High-speed streaming services are considered to be among the most promising services for the broadband Internet of the next generation. A contents delivery network (CDN) that allows effective and scalable content delivery will be required in this role. However, the actual requirements for the CDN, such as quality of service (QoS), the service deployment strategy and technical issues are not yet to be defined. In this paper, the bandwidth requirement of the CDN is derived through QoS evaluation. On the basis of this requirement, we propose two feasible CDN configurations: an IP technology based configuration and an optical video distribution technology based configuration. Finally, we make lists of technical issues for the configurations and discuss some of the possible solutions.

A photonic ATM switch based on wavelength-division multiplexing will include several lossy passive devices, erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, and semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) in a cascade configuration for fast switching of ns order. Its level diagram, which is very different from those of optical transmission links, has not been adequately studied. This paper investigates the concept of basing the level design of the photonic asynchronous-transfer-mode (ATM) switch we are developing on its Q-factor. First, we derive formulation of the Q-factor in a single PD and a dual-PD in a Manchester-encoded signal, which has several merits in packet switching and that we believe will become popular in photonic packet switches. Using this formula, we show an example of the level-diagram design including the Q factor calculation in an optical combiner and distributor section without SOA in our photonic ATM switch. Next, we showed experimentally that the pattern effect in SOAs can be suppressed by using a Manchester-encoded signal. Finally, we confirm that the allowable minimum level diagram in the switch can be based on a simple Q calculation and easy measurement of a bit error rate (BER) in a back-to-back configuration when using a Manchester-encoded signal. These results show that basing the level design of photonic ATM switches on the Q factor is feasible when using a Manchester signals. This approach can be applied to various types of photonic packet switches.