Photonic switch system and method

Abstract

A photonic circuit comprising: a number of input paths; a number of output paths, each output path associated with a corresponding frequency bin; and a photonic switch network coupled between the input paths and the output paths, the photonic switch network comprising an arrangement of active optical elements to selectively couple a photon from any one of the input paths to any one of the output paths; and control logic coupled to the photonic switch network, and configured to: receive an input signal indicative of the presence of one or more incoming photons in a corresponding one or more of the input paths; select, based on the received input signal, one or more output paths, each of the one or more selected output paths associated with a corresponding frequency bin that includes a frequency of the one or more incoming photons; and generate one or more control signals to configure the active optical elements such that, for each of the one or more selected output paths, a photon of the one or more incoming photons is coupled to that selected output path. Also disclosed is a corresponding method for using the photonic switch network.

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