3-D MEMS-based Dynamically Reconfigurable Optical Packet Switch (DROPS)

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel dynamically reconfigurable optical packet switch (DROPS) that combines both spectral and spatial switching capabilities. The added spatial switching capability provided by the micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) enables dynamically reconfigurable routing that is not possible with an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) alone. This methodology provides advantages in scalability, additional degrees of freedom, and more flexibility in path or line card recovery. The experimental demonstration implemented with 10-Gb/s packets shows that the added spatial switching does not degrade the bit-error-rate performance.