Abstract

The function of wavelength conversion, or wavelength interchange, will become critical to the flexibility of wave length-division multiplexed optical networks and to the ability of photonic cross-connects within such networks to be fully non-blocking. While many schemes for wavelength conversion have been proposed and demonstrated, none is fully transparent to signal format and all suffer significant limitations. Thus, the ultimate capacity and nature of the network may be determined, somewhat, by the scheme(s) implemented for wavelength conversion.

© 1996 Optical Society of America