Implementing an Optical QoS Encoding Scheme in an Optical Packet Switching Fabric Test-Bed

The next-generation Internet may be required to invoke quality-of-service classes directly on the optical layer to optimize global network routing, as well as exploit optical packet switched architectures as a solution to switch high-bandwidth optical messages. In this work, the functionality of optical networks is enhanced to implement different service classes directly on the optical layer. A physical-layer quality-of-service encoding scheme is introduced for an optical switching fabric test-bed that allows for the prioritized transmission of broadband wavelength-striped messages. Contention is resolved by dropping low-priority messages. Packets with 8 × 10-Gb/s payloads are shown correctly routed error-free, with verified bit-error rates less than 10^-12. A power penalty of 1.2 dB for the three-stage network test-bed is demonstrated.