Parametric wavelength interchanging cross-connect architecture

Summary form only given. We propose an architecture for a wavelength interchanging cross-connect (WIXC) that performs space cross-connection as well as wavelength interchange. The architecture uses difference frequency generation (DFG) /spl lambda/-converters, which offer a number of unique properties not available in conventional wavelength converters. Besides a strictly transparent conversion process, these properties include simultaneous conversion of multiple wavelengths and a "mirror image" mapping function for the converted wavelengths. Despite the significant potential of DFG wavelength converters, there has been no cross-connect architecture to exploit their unique properties.