Optical Switching Fabric Using Microring Filters and SOA
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current optical switching fabric apparatuses face challenges in achieving a balance between large capacity and fast switching speed, with existing technologies either having limited capacity or insufficient switching speed to meet the requirements of modern communication networks.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution involves a receiving device and optical switching fabric apparatus that utilize multiple selecting modules, fast optical switches, and a wavelength broadcasting device to filter and combine multiwavelength optical signals, enabling efficient optical-to-electrical conversion and supporting high bandwidth utilization rates and fast switching speeds through a combination of microring filters and SOA-based fast optical switches.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If time division switching is used with optical bursts, then switching function is achieved, but switching speed is limited by optical component response time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the optical switching function into two distinct parts: wavelength selection (filtering) performed by microring resonators operating at relaxed speeds, and temporal switching performed by fast optical switches. This segmentation allows each component to operate at its optimal speed, with the fast optical switch handling time-critical operations while the microring handles wavelength routing, thereby resolving the contradiction between switching speed and bandwidth utilization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical or slow electro-optical switching mechanisms with all-optical switching using semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOA) and microring resonators. This substitution eliminates the need for slow electrical-to-optical conversion in the switching path, enabling picosecond-level switching speeds while maintaining high bandwidth utilization through optical domain processing.
2Manufacturing precision
If switching granularity is reduced to 64-byte cell level, then switching precision is improved, but optical burst interval must be extremely short which limits capacity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces wavelength as an additional dimension for multiplexing beyond traditional time-division switching. By combining fine temporal granularity (achieved through fast optical switching) with wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM), the system can achieve 64-byte cell-level switching precision while maintaining large overall capacity through parallel wavelength channels, effectively adding a spatial dimension to the switching fabric.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary wavelength filtering and signal preparation in the optical domain before electrical processing. The microring resonators pre-select wavelengths and the fast optical switches pre-synchronize bursts, allowing the subsequent electrical processing to operate at standard speeds while maintaining fine switching granularity, thus avoiding the need for extremely short optical burst intervals.
3Speed
If fast optical switches are used to achieve fast switching, then switching speed is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the wavelength selection function and the switching control function into a coordinated optical domain system. The microring resonators and fast optical switches work together as an integrated optical processing unit, with wavelength routing and temporal switching performed simultaneously in the optical domain before a single optical-to-electrical conversion step. This merging reduces overall system complexity compared to multiple separate conversion stages.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach allows for the construction of optical switching fabric apparatuses with increased capacity and faster switching speeds, capable of supporting high-bandwidth applications while maintaining a compact and power-efficient design.
Implementation Method 1
a first optical signal corresponding to a first time segment is filtered from the multiwavelength optical signal
Implementation Method 2
perform optical-to-electrical conversion on the optical burst signal to obtain an electrical signal
Data Source
Figure 1~2A
Figure 2B~2C
Figure 2D~2E
AI summary
The present invention provides a receiving device and an optical switching fabric apparatus, where the receiving device includes: multiple selecting modules, a fast optical switch connecting to each selecting module, an output module connecting to all the fast optical switches, and a receiver connecting to the output module, where the selecting module is configured to receive a multiwavelength optical signal, select and filter a first optical signal of a preset time segment in the multiwavelength optical signal, and send the first optical signal to the fast optical switch; the fast optical switch is configured to select a second optical signal from the first optical signal filtered by the selecting module, and send the second optical signal to the output module; the output module is configured to combine optical signals separately selected by all the fast optical switches into one optical burst signal, and send the optical burst signal to the receiver; and the receiver is configured to perform optical-to-electrical conversion on the optical burst signal, and extract service data from an electrical signal. An optical switching fabric apparatus that includes the foregoing receiving device can solve a problem in the prior art that a capacity of an optical switching matrix is small or a switching speed cannot meet a requirement.