Influence of crosstalk on the scalability of optical multi-wavelength switching networks

It was shown that optical cross-connect node architectures, which suppress all first order crosstalk contributions, were necessary in order to give crosstalk requirements on multiplexers and space switches that are realistic to fulfil given current state of the art devices. Regarding accumulation of interferometric crosstalk and noise, large all-optical networks (>10 nodes in diameter with 32 inputs/outputs per node and 32 wavelengths per fibre) should be feasible, given component crosstalk of about -30 dB.