Optical packet switching technology- Hybrid Optoelectronic Packet Router -

Optoelectronics Integration Research Group

Technology

Optical Packet switching enables the transfer of packet signals in the optical domain on a packet-by-packet basis. In conventional electronic routers, all input optical packets are converted into electrical signals that are subsequently stored in a memory. The stored signals then undergo switching to reach the intended output ports while being handled as low-speed signals, and finally the switched signals are reassembled into the high-speed packets. This process leads to high power consumption and large latency.
To resolve these issues, we have been undergoing research for the hybrid optoelectronic packet router (HOPR) that aims to optimally combine optical and electrical technologies based on novel optical and optoelectronic devices developed in our labs.

Features

Optical/Optoelectronic/Electronic device technologies for 100-Gbps optical packet

Optical devices Broadcast-&-Select Optical Switch, Tunable Transmitter, Burst-mode EDFA
Optoelectronic devices Serial-to-Parallel Converter, Parallel-to-Serial Converter, Optical Clock Pulse Train Generator
Electronic devices Burst-mode APD-TIA, Latch Clock Generator

Optical packet processing technologies with high speed operation, low power consumption and low latency

Optical label processor Performing label processing while keeping the payload in the optical domain
Optical switch Data rate and format-free packet switching for a wide range of wavelengths
Shared buffer Highly functional shared buffer based on optoelectronic interfaces and CMOS memory

Hybrid optoelectronic packet router technologies enabled by novel router architecture

Power efficiency reducing power consumption by utilizing novel optical technologies
Low Latency Adopting the cut-through switching method together with a shared buffer
High functionality QoS, Forward error correction, Conversion between 10GbE and 100Gbps optical packets
Features

Application

An optical packet switched network can maximize the efficiency of the link bandwidth utilization through the deployment of statistical multiplexing. The network is also attractive for the reduction of power consumption and latency by adopting flexible traffic engineering on a packet-by-packet basis and novel optical technologies. These advantages are particularly beneficial in the networks with a high variation of traffic. In this regard, we have been researching the technologies necessary for realizing future networks for data centers, cloud computing and metro NW, as well as access aggregation NW and optical mobile NW.

Fig.2 Data center network with Torus topology
Fig.2 Data center network with Torus topology

Abbreviation

APD-TIA avalanche photodiode and transimpedance amplifier
CMOS complementary metal-oxide semiconductor
EFDA erbium-doped fiber amplifier
EAM electro-absorption modulator
FPGA field programmable gate array
HOPR hybrid optoelectronic packet router
OCTA optically clocked transistor array
OCPTG optical clock pulse-train generator
QoS quality of service
SPC, PSC serial-to-parallel converter, parallel-to-serial converter
Tx, Rx transmitter, receiver
ToR top of rack

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