Abstract

We developed an ultra-fast node controller using a combination of optical and electronic processing. The prototype system includes high-speed packet generation with large-scale optical packet compression. The mode locked laser system, Nd:YLF, operates at 100 MHz repetition rate with a pulse width of about 100 ps and a carrier wavelength at 1.3 μm. We compress the pulses to 1-ps width, and then the pulse trains are modulated with an E/O modulator by the 100 Mb/s electronic data streams generated from a customized packet generation unit before they are compressed into 100 Gb/s optical packets. It is noted that due to the SOA relaxation time in the TOAD, the packet-to-packet time interval should be at least 500 ps to avoid saturation. Once the packets arrive at the destination they are downconverted from 100 Gb/s to an electronically processable 100 Mb/s rate.

© 1997 Optical Society of America