Broadcasting in an all-optical packet-switched network

All-optical networks are a strong answer to the huge data traffic demand expected for the forthcoming information society. An interesting networking aspect represents broadcasting in an all-optical environment. This issue is addressed in the present paper for an all-optical network called MATRIX (multiwavelength all optical transparent information exchange). The architecture enables the all-optical interconnection of a large number of nodes with both a small number of wavelengths and wavelength continuity based on a consequent exploitation of wavelength reuse as well as space- and wavelength-division multiplexing. Two different broadcasting schemes are investigated regarding their employment in the network. An analytical model is developed and the corresponding simulation results are in good agreement.