Simultaneous all-optical wavelength conversion of baseband payload and removal/replacement of subcarrier multiplexed headers

Summary form only given. In this paper we demonstrate a new technique to address the problem of all-optical subcarrier multiplexed (SCM) header replacement by exploiting the frequency response of wavelength conversion via gain saturation in semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs). We also demonstrate that SCM header replacement can be performed by remodulating the new header on the wavelength-converted baseband. Therefore, the data-rate and format transparency of the routing process are preserved.