The Lucent LambdaRouter: MEMS technology of the future here today

Author

Bishop, David J. ; Giles, C. Randy ; Austin, Gary P.

Volume

40

Issue

3

fYear

2002

fDate

3/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

75

Lastpage

79

Abstract

MEMS devices are beginning to impact almost every area of science and technology. In fields as disparate as wireless communications, automotive design, entertainment, and lightwave systems MEMS is increasingly becoming a key technology. In this article we discuss MEMS devices in general, show how and where they will be used in lightwave systems, and then show in detail how they are allowing a billion dollar business to be born, that of large all-optical crossconnects. In particular we highlight one particular device, the Lucent LambdaRouter, and show how it is built from the chip on up and discuss its performance and applications

Keywords

micromechanical devices; optical fibre networks; photonic switching systems; telecommunication network routing; Lucent LambdaRouter; MEMS technology; large all-optical crossconnects; lightwave systems; optical fiber network; Automotive engineering; Bandwidth; Communication industry; Feeds; Microelectromechanical devices; Micromechanical devices; Optical fiber networks; Telecommunications; Virtual private networks; Wireless communication;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Communications Magazine, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0163-6804

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/35.989760

Filename

989760