Abstract

A novel photonic switching architecture is proposed which can provide extremely high dimensionality. The proposed architecture, which resembles a collapsed network, avoids the difficulties associated with the use of optical crosspoints. This is accomplished by providing a dedicated path for all input- and output-port connections on a common transmission medium. This eliminates the restrictions imposed by 2x2 switching elements in classical space-division switching architectures.

© 1989 Optical Society of America