Optical switches for advanced photonic networks

In this work we present optical switches based on acousto-optical (AO) and semiconductor amplifier (SOA) devices, implemented in photonic switching optical nodes. Two basic situations are highlighted. One, a fully operational optical packet/burst switching (OPS/OBS) distributed control optical node is presented, using AO switches, with complete input-to-output switching time of ~2¿s, independent of packet/burst length. The other, a practical application for a centralized control situation is also presented, involving SOA devices, which have better performance and faster switching, with overall switching times of less than 200ns. Detailed operation and other applications are also considered.