Effects of crosstalk on the performance and design of all-optical networks with fiber nonlinearities

In all-optical networks, signals are propagated through switches with no electrical regeneration. The switches used in all-optical networks (called optical crossconnects, or OXC) are prone to signal leaking; due to the absence of electrical regeneration, these leaked signals, called crosstalk signals, may therefore propagate through hundreds to several thousands of kilometers. Moreover, crosstalk may be enhanced by fiber nonlinearities during the propagation, hence severely impairing network performance. In this paper, we present a simulation study that highlights the issues of crosstalk-impaired all-optical networks. We show that crosstalk cannot be ignored while designing all-optical networks and routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) algorithms and we show how network design and RWA could account for the presence of crosstalk.