Parallel Transfer Optical Packet Switches

For efficient utilization of bandwidth in optical packet switching, the guard time T _g between packets should only be a small fraction of the packet transmission time T _d. Since the guard time T _g of existing packet switching approaches must be larger than the reconfiguration time T _sw of optical switches, this imposes a stringent demand on the switch reconfiguration time T _sw as the transmission rate of optical fibers increases. By using batch transfer of packets or multiple switching fabrics in parallel, the requirement on the switch reconfiguration time can be significantly relaxed. The utilization of the transmission links can be greatly improved because the guard time between packets is no longer constrained by the switch reconfiguration time.