Large Scale, All-Fiber Optical Cross-Connect Switches for Automated Patch-Panels

Transparent, all-optical cross-connect switches provide non-blocking, one-to-one reconfigurable interconnections between any of N input fibers and any of N output fibers. Cross-connects based on all-fiber rather than free-space interconnections have the potential for low opto-mechanical complexity, miniaturization, high optical power handling and ideal optical performance. In this paper, we propose and analyze novel architectures for large-scale, all-fiber cross-connects based on the application of theory of Knots and Braids to fiber switching and compare them on the basis of scalability, modularity and reconfiguration time. A prototype 140 input by 140 output, automated all-fiber cross-connect is developed to demonstrate these concepts.