We propose an optical switch control procedure for the Active Optical Access System (AOAS). Optical switches are used in AOAS instead of optical splitters in PON. In the proposed procedure, an OLT determines the switching schedules of optical switches on OSW (Optical Switching Unit) which is installed between OLT and ONU, and informs the OSW of them with a switch control frame preceding of data frame transmission. Then the switch controller on OSW controls the optical switches based on the switching schedules. We developed the prototype systems of OSW, OLT, and ONU. We implemented the optical switch control function with logic circuits on the prototype systems. We demonstrate the proposed procedure works effectively with logic circuits. We also evaluate the 10 Gps optical signal transmission between OLT and ONU. We demonstrate the receiver sensibility on OLT and ONU achieves the distance of 40 km for optical signals transmission with FEC (Forward Error Correction). These receivers are applicable for both AOAS and 10G-EPON.

A novel optical header extraction scheme based on optical differential phase shift keying--DPSK--decoding is examined analytically and experimentally. The header is applied in front of the payload, on the phase of a pulsed optical level introduced for the duration of the header. The proposed scheme offers maximized header extraction efficiency, required by the electronics to identify the header bits and control the switch. At the same time, the payload is transmitted at maximum extinction ratio. Analytical results prove the enhanced performance of the decoding scheme with respect to the extinction ratio and in comparison to other DPSK based schemes. Moreover, the utilised scheme is cost efficient and easily upgradeable to any bit rates and adds minimum complexity at the transmitter and detector parts of the system. Finally, the implementation of the developed technique in a real optical packet switch is demonstrated, where header extraction, reading, processing and switch control using field programmable gate array--FPGA--technology is successfully demonstrated.