Optoelectronic Switching in Digital Networks

The use of optoelectric switching matrices in digital networks is examined. The possibility of large very compact arrays is demonstrated. Design considerations are discussed for a switching node for broad-band digital signals at rates of 100 and 500 Mbits/s, with 100 inputs and 10³outputs. A novel feature of optoelectronic switching is that power consumption tends to scale approximately linearly with array dimension, leading to potential advantages over electronic alternatives in large dimension high-rate switching matrices.