A 160-Gb/s OTDM Demultiplexer Based on Parametric Wavelength Exchange

Parametric wavelength exchange (PWE) has been demonstrated as a versatile device in providing different functionalities. In this paper, we will concentrate, numerically and experimentally, on one of these functionalities, namely, all-optical time demultiplexing of 160-Gb/s return-to-zero (RZ) signals based on a pulsed-pump PWE in a 400 m highly nonlinear dispersion-shifted fiber. Experimental results show power penalties les 2.7 dB at bit-error rate of 10^-9 for all demultiplexed 10-Gb/s RZ signals. We also derive theoretical expressions for the conversion/residual efficiencies and investigate the impact of pump pulse width and phase mismatch on these efficiencies. Furthermore, the impacts of pulsed-pump wavelength and power level on the characteristics of the switching window are investigated numerically. As a result, the demultiplexer can be easily upgraded to an add-drop multiplexer because of the complete exchange nature of PWE, which is justified by the surviving channels´ waveform performance.