Design of All-Optical Contention Detection and Resolution for 40-Gb/s Label-Switched Routers

We present a new scheme for all-optical contention detection and time-domain contention resolution of optical packets in label-switched routers that employ all-optical label recognition. The contention detection subsystem provides all the necessary control signals required to drive an optically controlled buffer which employs 1 times 2 optical switching elements and an optical fiber delay line. The state of the buffer is dynamically controlled on a per-packet basis with all the decisions and processing performed in the optical domain. Physical layer simulations show successful buffering and forwarding of 40-Gb/s optical packets with 2-dB power penalty