Photonic random access memory for 40-Gb/s 16-b burst optical packets

We present a photonic random access memory (RAM) that can write and read high-speed asynchronous burst optical packets freely by specifying addresses. The photonic RAM consists of an optical clock-pulse generator, an all-optical serial-to-parallel converter, a photonic parallel-to-serial converter, all developed by us, and a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor RAM as a storage medium, and features large capacity, long-term storage, random access at an arbitrary timing, low power consumption, and compactness. We experimentally confirm its basic operation for 40-Gb/s 16-b optical packets.