Experimental photonic multimedia switching system using integrated 8×8 silica-based guided-wave crossbar switch

An experimental photonic space-division (SD) switching system handling multimedia traffic by using a crossbar-type 8×8 optical switch that has 112 switch elements monolithically integrated on a silicon substrate is described. Among eight subscriber lines, four types of connections (G4 facsimile, SCMA/CD LAN, NTSC TV, and HD-video) are successfully provided using a multimedia call detector that identifies terminal types during call detection. Experimental results show that the switch package board with the optical crossbar switch module has all average insertion loss of 16.3 dB and a signal to accumulated crosstalk ratio of 7.2 dB. Loss measurements indicate that a loss margin of 18.7 dB remains. The results indicate that the silica-based optical crossbar switch can be a good alternative to LiNbO₃ switches