Applications of active arrayed-waveguide gratings in dynamic WDM networking and routing

We describe how active arrayed-waveguide gratings (AWGs) may find a diverse range of applications in future dynamic wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) networking and routing. Our initial simulations indicate that these applications include dynamic signal power and erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) gain equalization with a dynamic range of 12 dB, and interchannel amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) suppression by more than 20 dB; optical add/drop multiplexing with passband-flattened channels and suppressions of 15 dB; and dynamic dispersion compensation of up to /spl plusmn/300 ps/nm.