A Data Rate- and Modulation Format-Independent Packet-Switched Optical Network Test-Bed

Adopting high data rates and advanced modulation formats in optical interconnection networks will enable future computing systems to achieve greater performance and scalability. We experimentally demonstrate the data rate and modulation format independence of a 4 × 4 optical packet-switched network test-bed. Leveraging wavelength-division multiplexing, we show the transmission of multiwavelength 320-Gb/s optical packets, using 8 × 40-Gb/s wavelength-striped payloads. Both on-off keying (OOK) and differential-phase-shift-keying (DPSK) modulation formats are investigated. Optical packets are correctly routed through the network, and error-free operation is confirmed for all wavelengths with bit-error rates less than 10
^-12
. Best-case power penalties of 1 dB for OOK data and 0.52 dB for DPSK streams are obtained.