Data format agnostic optical label processing techniques for intelligent forwarding of packets in all-optical packet switched networks

The exponential growth of the Internet data traffic will demand high capacity optical networks. High capacity optical links will carry optical packets at data rates above 100 Gb/s using a variety of data-formats such as OTDM data packets, multi-wavelength optical packets that might have highly spectral efficient modulation formats, such as D(Q)PSK, OFDM, M-QAM. On the other hand, routing of packets by today electronic circuit switching may have fundamental limits due to the speed and the scalability of multi-rack electronic switching fabrics, and the associated power consumption by opto-electronic conversions. Switching of the optical packets transparently in the optical domain eliminates power hungry opto-electronic conversions. One of the main sub-systems needed for switching transparently the optical packets is the implementation of a label processor that determines the packet destination and controls the switching fabric. In this talk, we discuss different asynchronous and low latency label processing techniques that can extract information on the packet forwarding of optical packets with multiple data formats and data bit-rates, to allow the implementation of intelligent systems for optimal routing of the packets in the optical domain.