A 40-Gb/s Self-Clocked Bidirectional Serial/Parallel Converter for Asynchronous Label Swapping

A novel scheme for self-clocked bidirectional serial/parallel conversion is proposed with an optically clocked transistor array (OCTA). As a result of its internal clock generation, serial-to-parallel (SP) and parallel-to-serial (PS) conversion capability, the OCTA alone realizes a single-chip low-power interface between input-output high-speed asynchronous burst optical packets and complimentary metal-oxide-semiconductor electronics, thus enabling a compact low-power solution for label swapping of optical packets. An eight-channel OCTA demonstrates self-clocked SP and PS conversion at 40 Gb/s