OXADMs: The next generation of optical switching devices

This paper introduces a new optical device model named as an optical cross add and drop multiplexer (OXADM) which has potential use in CWDM metro area networks. The device uses the concepts of combination of optical add/drop multiplexing and optical cross connect between two main transmission lines in order to implement the wavelength routing operation [10]. MEMS optical switches are integrated in the device to make it re-configurable. With excellent features, the device is particularly designed to improve network efficiency, flexibility and survivability [7][8]. The device can be used in point to point, ring or mesh network topology to provide functionality such as routing, supervision, transport, multiplexing and restoration of client digital signals processed predominantly in the optical domain [7]. The wavelengths on each optical trunk can be switched between each other while implementing add and drop functions simultaneously. The multiplexer has undergone performance test at 2.5 Gbps (OC- 48) with BER less than 10^-9. The maximum length can be achieved by OXADMs is 71 km without amplification at insertion loss 6 dB. A comparison between OXADM with the previous devices such as, OXC, TRN and OXN is also been studied.