Advances in ultra-high speed optical TDM networking

Summary form only given. OTDM networks based on the terahertz optical asymmetric demultiplexer (TOAD) will enable construction of crossbar interconnect systems with aggregate capacities approaching 1 Tb/s. The synchronicity inherent in an OTDM system can be exploited to implement efficient arbitration and control methods that scale linearly with the number of attached nodes. OTDM based interconnect systems challenge the current generation of switching fabrics that use electronic routers by offering low latencies, high bandwidth, and globally visible event ordering. Furthermore, nodes are connected to a central switching hub in a star-like fashion where each node requires two optical fiber connections, independent of the system size. Recent experimental demonstrations of both ultrafast demultiplexing and high-speed time slot tuning will be presented that demonstrate a 100 node network with an aggregate capacity of 100 Gb/s is achievable