First Experimental Demonstration of a Remotely Powered Quasi-Passive Reconfigurable Node

We experimentally demonstrated the first remotely powered quasi-passive reconfigurable (QPAR) node for optical access networks. The node is powered remotely using an optical source, and is designed to provide flexible power/wavelength allocation while keeping optical access networks passive. Using a photodiode (PD) array, two optical latching switches in a 1 × 2 × 2 QPAR (i.e., one wavelength, two power levels, and two output ports) are remotely powered. Both sequential and simultaneous operations have been demonstrated, with the optical feed of each PD being 4 and 9 dBm, respectively. Our bit error rate measurements show that the optical signal used for remote power causes no power penalty to the payload signal when transmitted along the same feeder fiber.