Wavelength-independent packet header replacement using a long cw region generated directly from the packet flag

Summary form only given. We demonstrate the same-wavelength header replacement at 1 Gbit/s using a cw region generated from the packet´s own flag. This technique is wavelength independent. The packet flag, a series of 1s, is placed in a short fiber loop and replicated several times, providing a cw signal for subsequent generation of a new header at the same wavelength as the payload. We obtain bit error rate (BER=10/sup -9/) with a 1.5-dB penalty. Our method is advantageous to the previous work in which: (i) no extraneous throughput-lowering cw tag is necessary because we use the packet flag itself to generate the cw region, (ii) the SONET packet structure is maintained by reusing the packet flag, (iii) the new header data is imprinted at the 1 Gbit/s payload rate.