Title :
Advantages of gain clamping in semiconductor amplifier crosspoint switches
Author :
Williams, K.A. ; Penty, R.V. ; White, I.H. ; McAuley, D.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Eng., Cambridge Univ., UK
Abstract :
This paper will demonstrate the substantial practical advantages of constructing crosspoint optical switches using gain clamped optical amplifiers. Using such switches, excellent dynamic range can be achieved even after the cascading of 10 switches. Comparisons of the relative merits of gain clamped and travelling wave amplifiers in concatenated cross-point and splitter based switch fabrics will be presented at the conference to identify gate tolerances and ultimate port counts for amplifier based switch fabrics.
Keywords :
electro-optical switches; optical communication equipment; semiconductor optical amplifiers; wavelength division multiplexing; amplifier based switch fabrics; cross-point based switch fabrics; crosspoint optical switches; dynamic range; gain clamped optical amplifiers; gain clamping; gate tolerances; semiconductor amplifier crosspoint switches; splitter based switch fabrics; travelling wave amplifiers; ultimate port counts; Clamps; Communication switching; Dynamic range; Optical amplifiers; Optical distortion; Optical filters; Optical packet switching; Optical switches; Power amplifiers; Semiconductor optical amplifiers;
Conference_Titel :
Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibit, 2002. OFC 2002
Print_ISBN :
1-55752-701-6
DOI :
10.1109/OFC.2002.1036662
