Optical time-division multiplexing packet-switched local area networks: Design and demonstrations

The next generation computer networks will handle the bandwidth requirements from new applications such as supercomputer interconnection, tele-medicine applications, interactive TV and multimedia banks. The increases in the number of end users and per user bandwidth demand clearly indicate the need of developing advanced optical networks that are capable of delivering throughput ranging from hundreds Gbit/s to several Tbit/s. While most of the research efforts are focused on WDM systems, this dissertation explores the potential of implementing optical time-division multiplexing technology in future local area data networks using electronic routing (transparent networks) or optical routing control (all-optical networks).; The results presented were obtained from a combination of theoretical analysis, numerical simulations and experiments. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the current position of photonic switching in the ever-growing networking industry and states the motivation for the work in this dissertation. Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 present the design and demonstration of a 100 Gbit/s multihop packet-switched network. The network node structure is defined in Chapter 2, and novel self-routing schemes are proposed for efficient switching and cost effective node design. The performance of the network with various routing switch configurations is analyzed through numerical simulations. A single-node network testbed was constructed to demonstrate the concepts in Chapter 3. The chapter starts with the development of the essential components such as packet transmitter and receiver, timing control, address recognition block, and routing controller. A network testbed is then described. Packet switching at 400 Mbit/s and 100 Gbit/s is demonstrated. The limitation of the system due to noise and fiber nonlinearity is analyzed using numerical simulations. The following chapter, Chapter 4 proposes a novel node structure for optimal throughput and better tolerance towards link failures. The throughput and delay performance is analyzed by theoretical modelling, and the results are verified by computer simulation.; A novel all-optical hierarchical ring network which can potentially support many users is described in Chapter 5. The structure of the nodes are kept simple so that optical routing processing can be implemented.; Finally, Chapter 6 summarizes the results presented and discusses the applications of 100 Gbit/s OTDM packet switched networks.