Hybrid Wavelength Switched-TDMA High Port Count All-Optical Data Centre Switch

The physical layer data plane design of an all-optical network switch capable of scaling to 1024 ports at 25 Gb/s per port is presented and experimentally evaluated. Fast-tuning DSDBR lasers modulated with line-coded bipolar data allow combined wavelength switching and time-division multiple access to provide packet switch-like functionality with over 2 Tb/s of total switch bandwidth. A passive fiber star coupler core with high sensitivity DSP-free coherent receivers creates a low complexity easily upgradeable building block for data center networks.