Compatibility of flat-passband, 200 GHz-wide selective switch for 160 Gb/s transmission rates

We characterize a 200 GHz channel grid, wavelength-selective 4/spl times/1 switch with wide/flat passbands and low chromatic dispersion (|CD|<10 ps/nm) for 160 Gb/s transmission rates. Our findings indicate that the penalties associated with ISI and dispersion are very high.