High-speed optical packet processing technologies based on novel optoelectronic devices

To cope with the explosive growth of IP traffic, we must increase both the link capacity between nodes and the node throughput. These requirements have stimulated research on photonic networks that use optical technologies. Optical packet switching (OPS) is an attractive solution because it maximizes the use of the network bandwidth. The key functions in achieving such networks include synchronization, label processing, compression/decompression, regeneration, and buffering for high-speed asynchronous optical packets. However, it is impractical to implement such functions by using all-optical approaches. We have proposed a new optoelectronic system composed of a packet-by-packet optical clock-pulse generator (OCG), an all-optical serial-to-parallel converter (SPC), a photonic parallel-to-serial converter (PSC), and CMOS circuitry. The OCG provides a single optical pulse synchronized with the incoming packet, and the SPC carries out a parallel conversion of the incoming packet. The parallel converted data are processed in the smart CMOS circuit, and reconstructed into an optical packet by the photonic PSC. Our system makes it possible to carry out various functions for high-speed asynchronous optical packets. This paper reviews our recent work on high-speed optical packet processing technologies such as buffering, packet compression/decompression, and label swapping, which are key technologies for constructing future OPS networks.