CN1373380A - Switch array based on arc waveguide all-optical switch - Google Patents

Abstract

A switch array based on an arc waveguide all-optical switch, using an arc waveguide all-optical switch based on the Kerr effect as a switch unit to form an n×n switch array, the switch array has n input ports, n output ports, n The value is an integer power of 2, and the connection waveguide shape between the switch units adopts the traditional shuffling shuffle connection method. Each switching unit has a different adjustable switching characteristic. The switch of the invention has simple structure, low manufacturing cost and fast switching speed, and is suitable for modern high-speed communication systems.

Description

Switch array based on arc waveguide all-optical switch

Technical field:

The invention relates to an optical switch array, in particular to a switch array based on an arc-shaped waveguide all-optical switch, which uses the light intensity of input light to perform switch control, and belongs to the field of optical technology.

Background technique:

Optical fiber communication is attracting more and more attention. With the dramatic increase of communication capacity, it is difficult for electronic devices to adapt to high-speed and large-capacity communication requirements. Only by adopting optical switching technology can this problem be solved, and the optical switch array is an important device that composes the optical switching components. Optical switch arrays can be divided into mechanical optical switch arrays and waveguide optical switch arrays. Waveguide optical switch arrays have faster switching speeds than mechanical switch arrays and are usually used in high-speed optical communication systems. Among them, most of the waveguide optical switch arrays are electro-optic or thermo-optical all-optical switches, such as the use of lithium niobate batteries reported in the Electronics Letter of July 1994 (Vol.30, No.14 pp1128-1129) by H. The optical switch array composed of optical switches, and the optical switch array composed of thermo-optic effect switches reported by R. Moosburger et al. These switch arrays use external control circuits to change the refractive index of the waveguide through thermo-optic and electro-optic effects to achieve the purpose of switching on. These external controls need to make electrodes, heaters, etc. while making the waveguide, which makes the manufacturing process more complicated and the manufacturing cost rises. . In addition, the response magnitude of these switch array thermo-optic and electro-optic effects is only on the order of nanoseconds, which is not suitable for higher-speed switching.

Invention content:

The purpose of the present invention is to address the deficiencies of the prior art, and propose a new switch array based on arc-shaped waveguide all-optical switches, which controls the orientation of switches by light intensity, simplifies the manufacturing process, and is capable of applications with faster switching rates.

In order to achieve such purpose, in the technical scheme of the present invention, the curved waveguide all-optical switch based on the Kerr effect (curved waveguide all-optical switch based on the optical Kerr effect, Chinese Patent Publication No. CN1305114A) is used as the switch unit to replace the traditional The thermo-optic and electro-optic switch units form an n×n switch array. The switch array has n input ports and n output ports, and n is an integer power of 2. The shape of the connecting waveguide between the switch units adopts the traditional shuffling (shuffle) connection method.

The arc-shaped waveguide all-optical switch has two input ports and two output ports, and the shape of the switch is two close or overlapping arcs. The distance between the two arc-shaped waveguides of different switching units constituting the switching array can be different, so that different switching units can have different switching characteristics, and the specific selection of its parameters depends on the needs.

The switching characteristics of arc-shaped waveguide all-optical switches have significant numerical characteristics, and their switching characteristics can be adjusted by changing parameters, which make them especially suitable for forming optical switch arrays. Since each arc-shaped waveguide all-optical switch is still a 2×2 optical switch, it can form any type of switch array composed of electro-optical and thermo-optical switches.

The waveguide switch based on the Kerr effect is controlled by changing the refractive index through the intensity of the beam. The control information it needs comes from the beam itself, instead of changing the refractive index of the waveguide through an external electric field to control on or off. Therefore, compared with the traditional waveguide switch array, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

1. The switching speed is fast, usually in the order of non-second ( ^10-15 seconds), suitable for modern high-speed communication systems, not only can be used in network protection, optical bifurcation multiplexing, and packet switching systems, but also can be used in ultra-high speed in the future Systems such as Optical Time Division Multiplexing (OTDM).

2. Since the switch is controlled by the light intensity carried by the light beam itself, the switch is simple in structure and does not require complex control circuits required by thermo-optic and electro-optic switch arrays.

3. The manufacturing of the waveguide is simple, the production cost is low, and the yield is high. The thermo-optic and electric switch arrays need to make electrodes in addition to the waveguide, but the switch array of the present invention does not need it.

4. Widely used, in addition to forming a banyan network, it can also form any other form of switch array.

Graphic description:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a 4×4banyan switching array of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, 4 arc-shaped waveguide all-optical switch units (9, 10, 11, 12) constitute a 4×4 switch array, of which 1, 2, 3, 4 are input ports, 5, 6, 7, 8 is the output port.

FIG. 2 is a switching characteristic curve of the four switching units in FIG. 1 .

in:

(a) The switching characteristic curve of No. 9 switch unit.

(b) Switching characteristic curve of switch unit No. 10.

(c) The switching characteristic curve of No. 11 switch unit.

(d) Switching characteristic curve of switch unit No. 12.

Detailed ways:

The working principle of this optical switch array will be discussed in detail below through the 4×4 banyan switching network formed by the Kerr effect arc waveguide optical switch of the present invention.

In the 4×4 banyan switching array in FIG. 1 , the constituent units 9 , 10 , 11 , and 12 are all arc-shaped waveguide all-optical switches. Each arc waveguide all-optical switch has two input ports and two output ports, and the shape of the switch is two adjacent arcs.

Assuming that light is input from port 1, the output is 1 when it is output from port 1', which is called the through state, and it is 0 when it is output from port 2', which is called the cross state. Of course, due to the symmetry of the arc-shaped waveguide all-optical switch, when light is input from 2, the output is 1 (straight-through state) when output from port 2', and 0 (cross state) when output from port 1'.

The constituted switch array has four input ports 1, 2, 3, 4 and four output ports 5, 6, 7, 8. In order to achieve the purpose of the 4×4 switch, it is necessary to adjust the structural parameters of the four switch units 9, 10, 11, and 12 so that their switching characteristics are as shown in Figures 2(a), 2(b), 2(c), and 2( d) The output characteristic curve shown. That is, when the input optical power is required to be between 0 and P1, switch units 9, 10, and 11 are in the through state, and switch unit 12 is in the cross state. When the input optical power is between P1 and P2, switch units 9, 11, and 12 are in the through state, and switch unit 10 is in the cross state. The input power is between P2～P3 units, the No. 12 switch unit is in the straight-through state, and the No. 9, 10, and 11 switch units are in the cross state. When the input power is at P3-P4, No. 10 switch unit is in the straight-through state, and No. 9, 11, and 12 switch units are in the cross-over state. The switching characteristics of the entire 4x4 switch array can be derived from having 2(a), 2(b), 2(c), 2(d). It can be seen from Figure 2 that when the input optical power is 0~P1, the input from four different ports can reach different output terminals. When the input power is P1~P2, P2~P3, P3~P4 respectively , can also make the input light of different ports reach different output ports. For the light beams arriving at different ports, by controlling their optical power, they can be output from different output ports, thus achieving the purpose of a 4×4 switch array.

Claims (2)

1, a kind of switch arrays based on the arc waveguide all-optical switch, it is characterized in that adopting arc waveguide all-optical switch based on Kerr effect as switch element, constitute n * n switch arrays, switch arrays have n input port, n output port, the n value is 2 integer power, and connection waveguide shapes between the switch element adopts traditional shuffle connected mode of shuffling.

2, as the said switch arrays of claim 1 based on the arc waveguide all-optical switch, it is characterized in that two close or the overlap arcs that are shaped as of each switch element, each unit has different adjustable switching characteristics.

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