A New Scalable WDM Optical Interconnect Design with Reduced Complexity

Optical communication, in particular, wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) technique, has become a promising networking choice to meet ever-increasing demands on bandwidth from emerging bandwidth-intensive computing/networking applications. A major challenge in designing WDM optical interconnects is how to provide maximum connectivity while keeping minimum hardware cost. The overall hardware cost of a WDM optical interconnect includes not only the cost of switching elements, but also the cost of wavelength conversion. Previous work mainly focused on minimizing hardware cost without taking into consideration the type of wavelength converters used. In this paper, we design WDM optical interconnects with full connectivity by using the low cost limited wavelength converters. We present optimal WDM optical interconnects for both permutation and multicast in single stage and multistage implementations. We also discuss the impact of the relationship between the number of fibers and the number of wavelengths per fiber on the optimal design. As can be seen, the newly designed WDM optical interconnects have minimum hardware cost in terms of the number of crosspoints and wavelength conversion cost.

The next generation multimedia applications such as video conferencing and HDTV have raised tremendous challenges on the network design, both in bandwidth and service. As wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) networks have emerged as a promising candidate for future networks with large bandwidth, supporting efficient multicast in WDM networks becomes eminent. Different from the IP layer, the cost of multicast at the WDM layer involves not only bandwidth (wavelength) cost, but also wavelength conversion cost and light splitting cost. It is well known that the optimal multicast problem in WDM networks is NP-hard. In this paper, we develop an efficient approximation algorithm consisting of two separate but integrated steps: multicast routing and wavelength assignment. We prove that the problem of optimal wavelength assignment on a multicast tree is not NP-hard; in fact, an optimal wavelength assignment algorithm with complexity of O(NW) is presented. Simulation results have revealed that the optimal wavelength assignment beats greedy algorithms by a large margin in networks using many wavelengths on each link such as dense wavelength-division-multiplexing (DWDM) networks. Our proposed heuristic multicast routing algorithm takes into account both the cost of using wavelength on links and the cost of wavelength conversion. The resulting multicast tree is derived from the optimal lightpaths used for unicast.

A 640 Gb/s ultra-high speed optical switch interconnection system based on wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) is proposed as a Tbit/s ATM switch interconnection system for future B-ISDN. The proposed optical interconnection system uses WDM in the switch interconnection to avoid interconnection limitation. The system consists of 8 wavelengths (each carrying a 10 Gb/s signal), eight optical transmitter modules (Tx), and an 8/spl times/8 arrayed waveguide (AWG) optical router which interconnects the 8/spl times/8 80 Gb/s WDM signal and 8 wavelengths receiver modules (Rx). Using a highly statistical WDM optical link, the proposed system can attain nearly non-blocking ATM switch interconnection. There are several advantages to the proposed optical interconnection system. First, by adopting a arrayed waveguide filter with a wide-channel-spacing (525 GHz), the system has a wide temperature margin of 10 degrees. Second, by setting a clock data recovery circuit in each Rx module, each 10 Gb/s highway interconnect unit switch can function independently. As a result, the proposed system is highly scalable. We fabricate an optical interconnection prototype system and succeed in demonstrating a 640 Gb/s optical interconnection. The proposed optical interconnection system can be applied to realize future broadband ATM networks.

Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems are widely deployed in high-capacity long-haul transmission systems. They can provide cost-effective additional capacity on fibers overloaded by the increase in data traffic. Current WDM systems are used mainly for point-to-point transmission links. Next generation WDM technologies are expected to provide full functionality at both the system and network levels. Next generation WDM system will require many optical components, including optical filters, add/drop multiplexers, circuit switches and wavelength converters. Optical components using planar lightwave circuits (PLCs) are now widely used in WDM systems. Arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs), in particular, play an important role in current WDM systems. In the next generation system, optical components using PLCs are expected to provide many functions that counterparts cannot. In this paper, we will describe the current and future WDM components using PLCs, focusing on AWGs and switchable add/drop filters.

In this paper, we analyze the optical network with wavelength conversion, and discuss the architecture of network with wavelength converter in its node. The optical cross connects technology for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) is rapidly developing. Wavelength conversion is one of the key techniques for switch WDM optical networks. The wavelength conversion technology can achieve wavelength reuse, decrease wavelength competition, enhance network flexibility and scalability, and simplify network structure and management. The results show that If these cross-connectors feature integrated with wavelength conversion, network will be better able to play the full potential of WDM optical networks.

Addresses the problem of efficient communication in unreliable multi-hop optical networks supported by wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). We first define a new cost model for routing in (optical) WDM networks that is more general and realistic than the existing models. Our model takes into consideration not only the cost of wavelength access and conversion but also the cost for wavelength switching when several optical channels of the same wavelength arrive at the same node. We then propose a set of efficient algorithms in both reliable and unreliable WDM networks on the new cost model respectively for each of three important communication patterns-multiple point-to-point routing, multicast and multiple multicast.

We study the problem of allocating optical bandwidth to sets of communication requests in all–optical networks that utilize Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM). WDM technology establishes communication between pairs of network nodes by establishing transmitter–receiver paths and assigning wavelengths to each path so that no two paths going through the same fiber link use the same wavelength. Optical bandwidth is the number of distinct wavelengths. Since state–of–the–art technology allows for a limited number of wavelengths, the engineering problem to be solved is to establish communication between pairs of nodes so that the total number of wavelengths used is minimized; this is known as the wavelength routing problem. In this paper we survey recent advances in bandwidth allocation in tree–shaped WDM all–optical networks. We present hardness results and lower bounds for the general problem and the special case of symmetric communication. We give the main ideas of deterministic greedy algorithms and study their limitations. We demonstrate how we can achieve optimal and nearly–optimal bandwidth utilization in networks with wavelength converters using simple algorithms. We also present recent results about the use of randomization for wavelength routing.

In optical burst switching networks, wavelength converters (WCs) of core nodes are used to decrease the burst loss rate. The implementation of the WCs is difficult in the current technology and the cost of WCs is high. So some core nodes may be configured insufficient WCs to reduce the cost in OBS networks. However, many data channel scheduling algorithms do not count the number of WCs and the performance of burst loss rate is not good in the condition of insufficient WCs. To overcome the defect, two novel batch scheduling algorithm with insufficiency of WC are proposed in this paper. The former algorithm improves the WCs’ resource utilization probability to reduce the burst loss rate and the later algorithm saves the WCs’ resource for the incoming bursts to use to improve the burst loss performance. The later algorithm can reduce more burst loss rate with the same number of WCs, compared with the other scheduling algorithms. The simulation results show that the later algorithm is more effective in reducing the burst loss rate with insufficient WCs.

This paper proposes the optimal design of lightpath Routing and Wavelength Assignment (RWA) problem in Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) networks without wavelength conversion. We formulate RWA as a mixed Integer Linear Programming (ILP) problem where the objective is to minimize the cost of wavelength assignment to the fiber links in the network. The Lagrangean relaxation technique and the optimization-based heuristics are used to solve this problem. Two sets of computational experiments are performed to test the algorithms for the maximum carried traffic and minimum wavelength requirements in three different network topologies (GTE, ARPA, OCT network). Based on solution quality to the computational experiments, the error gaps between the upper bound and the lower bound are close enough that the near optimal solutions could be obtained. On the other hand, we also show that the solution quality degrade gracefully under more and more heavy traffic network environment. By assessing solution quality and the computational time, we propose the efficient and effective optimization-based algorithms based on the Lagrangean relaxation method for the RWA problem in the WDM networks without wavelength conversion.

We study the blocking probability and performance of single‐fiber and multifiber optical networks with wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). We extend the well‐known analytical blocking probability model by Barry and Humblet to the general model, which is proposed for both single‐fiber and multifiber network paths with any kind of wavelength conversion (no, limited, or full wavelength conversion) and for uniform and nonuniform link loads. We investigate the effect of the link load, wavelength conversion degree, and the number of wavelengths, fibers, and hops on blocking probability. We also extend the definition of the gain of wavelength conversion by Barry and Humblet to the gain of performance, which is fully general. Thanks to this definition and implementation of our model, we compare different WDM node architectures and present interesting results.

We are delighted to introduce a Special Issue on Optical Interconnects for the IET Optoelectronics magazine. This issue presents the current status as well as some of the outstanding progress that has been witnessed in the rapidly evolving area of optical interconnects. Today, data centres (DC) and high-performance computers are struggling with limited interconnect capacity and increased power consumption while trying to meet overwhelming bandwidth demands. As photonics technologies have been rapidly maturing, optical interconnects have come into the spotlight as the means to cope with the emerging bandwidth, energy, and capacity needs. As such, a wealth of photonic interconnect solutions across the DC hierarchy has unfolded, covering from electro-optic boards to transceiver development, on-chip and on-board switches and interconnects as well as novel noninvasive monitoring methods for light controlling for compensating thermal crosstalk, fabrication tolerances and unstable environmental conditions. At the same time, the increased penetration of optical interconnects in short-reach communications, such as board and chip levels, has triggered new challenges in photonics technologies calling for new innovations with respect to integration techniques and packaging methods. This Special Issue of IET includes integrated circuits, assembly techniques, systems-level architectures, and controlling methods related to short reach ‘chip-to-chip’, ‘in-the-box’, and ‘box-to-box’ communications. Specific areas covered by this special issue include: Silicon photonic transceiver technologies and flat DC topologies; High-speed electro-optic hosting boards and fast, energy-efficient electronics; DC switches and co-packaged optic (CPO) technologies; and Noninvasive controlling techniques for complex photonic integrated circuits. The four papers in this special section promote high-performance optical interconnect architectures and key technologies to tackle the rising bandwidth demands of DCs. They cover (a) co-packaged DC optics, (b) silicon technology transceiver modules and high-speed hosting boards for multisocket server board (MSB) interconnects and (c) automated controlling architecture for complex photonic systems; Items (b) and (c) draw from impressive achievements accomplished through the recently completed European H2020 Project ICT-STREAMS. This report written by C. Mickenberg tries to shed light on motivating factors behind co-packaged optics (CPO), the trade-offs involved and their potential impact on data centre network architectures. The article reviews the evolution of DC switch application-specific integrated circuit (ASICs) and DC optics, provides a future road map and finally discusses the potential impact of CPO on the network architecture. This topic is covered by two articles. The first, written by M. Morallis-Pegios, proposes using silicon photonics to advance interconnect throughput, socket connectivity and energy efficiency in MSB layouts by enabling a flat-topology wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) point-to-point optical MSB interconnect scheme. WDM silicon photonic transceivers coassembled with their electronic circuits achieving a 50-Gb/s line rate and 400-Gb/s aggregate data transmission are demonstrated. The article also proposes silicon photonic Arrayed Waveguide Grating Router (AWGRs) that can offer collision-less time-of-flight connectivity for up to 16 nodes. The second article covering that area is written by T. Lamprecht and reports on the development of electro-optic hosting boards for on-board transceiver subassemblies which is required to eventually form the Tb/s multi-socket onboard communication. The article also discusses the electrical interface as well as photonic board requirements, including the manufacturing technique and the assembly concept that was followed to deliver terabyte per second multichip optical communication. This article, written by F. Zanetto, introduces a novel dithering technique for real-time control of multiple cascaded photonic integrated devices, proposing a calibration-free strategy to support the development and real-life diffusion of increasingly complex photonic systems. The article elaborates on the implementation of a calibration-free automated control loop exploiting integral controllers to close a real-time feedback and stabilise the optimum working point of the employed photonic devices. The effectiveness of the proposed architectural approach is experimentally validated with the error-free routing and transmission of a 30-Gbit/s optical signal traversing a cascade of micro-ring resonator filters. All of the articles selected for this Special Issue present a wide variety of key topics and significant results addressing optical interconnects in high-performance data communication systems, including new progress on architectures, systems and packaging techniques as well as novel optimised controlling methods. As guest editors, we would like to thank all of the authors for their high-quality submissions that significantly contribute to the optical interconnect field. We would also like to thank the reviewers for their valuable and constructive technical comments that greatly enhance the Special Issue, because their feedback and comments ensure the high quality of the IET Optoelectronics Journal. We hope that this IET Special Issue will provide a useful reference of the state-of-the-art in optical interconnects to readers, and we anticipate such technological perspectives will stimulate new advancements and technological outcomes that will in turn enrich the growing field of optical interconnects. This work was supported by the E.C. through the H2020-ICT-STREAMS research project (688172).

This paper proposes a new optical path restoration method for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) networks. In the method, the protection path is established by connecting several sub-lightpaths from the source node to the destination node of the original working lightpath, as opposed to conventional path restoration where a single protection lightpath between the source-destination pair performs restoration. The set of one or more consecutive lightpaths to connect a source-destination pair is called semi-lightpath. The semi-lightpath based restoration provides enhanced flexibility in protection path provisioning and relieves the cost of spare capacity reservation and wavelength conversion at intermediate optical cross-connect nodes. In terms of spare capacity utilization, our method shows substantial reduction of spare capacity overhead compared with dedicated path restoration in all optical networks without wavelength conversion, and shows similar capacity efficiency compared with shared path restoration in opaque networks with full wavelength conversion capability.

A novel silicon add-drop filter based on apodized grating-assisted contra-directional couplers (contra-DCs) is demonstrated. The coupling apodization is achieved by modulating the superposition of the two gratings in a contra-DC. As the local effective index of the gratings remains unchanged, our designed apodized contra-DC has a large designing flexibility. The experimental results show that our device, has strong sidelobe suppression with a SLSR of 18 dB and a 15-dB bandwidth of 1.7 nm. The add-drop filter is appropriate for silicon wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical interconnects.

We address the problem of efficient circuit switching in wide area optical networks. The solution provided is based on finding optimal routes for lightpaths and the new concept of semilightpaths. A lightpath is a fully optical transmission path, while a semilightpath is a transmission path constructed by chaining together several lightpaths, using wavelength conversion at their junctions. A fast and practical algorithm is presented to optimally route lightpaths and semilightpaths taking into account both the cost of using the wavelengths on links and the cost of wavelength conversion. We prove that the running time of the algorithm is the best possible in the wide class of algorithms allowing linear algebraic operations on weights. This class encompasses all known related practical methods. Additionally, our method works for any physical realization of wavelength conversion, independently whether it is done via optoelectronic conversion or in a fully optical way.

Summary form only given. The large scale deployment of all-optical wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) networks will require signal regeneration due to signal impairments occurring in transmission spans and optical switching nodes/cross-connects. A 2R regenerative interface for non-return to zero (NRZ) signals based on semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) has been proposed by Chiaroni et al. (1997), with clear demonstration of regenerative properties in the amplitude domain. In this paper, a 3R regenerative interface based on the same core structure is described. The core of these interfaces is composed of the association of a wavelength converter (WC) under cross-gain modulation (XGM-WC) and a wavelength converter under cross-phase modulation (XPM-WC), both operating in polarity-inverting mode. Basically, the role of the first WC is to convert power fluctuations into extinction ratio variations and to provide the second WC with a constant input power. The second converter is in turn mainly used to regenerate the extinction ratio thanks to its nonlinear transfer function. This interface in addition limits the accumulation of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise.