Optical packet switching and buffering using low polarization dependent optical switches

A data plane of our optical packet switch (OPS) system has all-optical data paths, which consist of optical switches and optical buffers. Using PLZT electro-optical switches with low polarization dependent loss and fiber delay lines in the data plane, polarization-multiplexed optical packets or long-distance transmitted packets with time-varying polarization could be handled. In this paper, we present demonstrations of optical packet switching and buffering for 2.56 Tbit/s dual-polarization DWDM/DQPSK optical packets and 100-km transmitted optical packets.