All-optical resilient pulse-position-modulation-based packet-switched routing

In traditional optical networks, configured as static physical pipes, the carrier-grade network resilience is provided by means of protection and restoration capabilities. However, there is a need to develop a new generation of dynamic reconfigurable all optical networks with built in network resilience capabilities. In the next generation, high-speed photonic packet switching networks, ultrafast packet header processing, and packet switching are the vital building blocks. In this chapter, a review of different routing schemes for high-speed photonic packet switching networks and the concept of reducing the size of the look-up routing table are presented. A novel PPM signal format has been introduced in order to reduce the size of the routing table in order reduce packet switching and processing time compared to the conventional routing tables. A failure self detection and a routing table reconfiguration in the optical domain are introduced, and a number of factors such as system performance, reliability, and complexity are also discussed