Network demonstration of self-routing wavelength packets using an all-optical wavelength shifter and QPSK subcarrier routing control

Summary form only given. We present a novel demonstration, which applies the method of subcarrier self-routing control to a wavelength (λ)-routing network using all-optical wavelength shifting. This network features: (1) packet routing onto different wavelengths rather than waveguide/fiber paths; (2) the use of an all-optical λ-shifter; and (3) the packets being self-routing-switching information is encoded in the subcarrier headers. All-optical wavelength shifting is implemented by using semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) cross-gain compression, and routing control is implemented by using quadrature-phase-shift-key (QPSK)-encoded subcarriers.