DWDM Fundamentals, Components, and Applications
This leading-edge resource provides comprehensive, up-to-date coverage of the principles, technologies, standards, and applications of dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM).
TABLE OF CONTENTS DWDM Fundamentals, Components, and Applications
6.8: Optical Cross-Connector
6.8 Optical Cross-Connector
The key role of the optical cross-connector (OXC) is to reconfigure the network at the fiber and wavelength level, for restoration or to accommodate change in traffic demand. The OXC plays a role in the optical domain similar to the role of the digital cross-connect systems (DCS) in the electronic domain. The OXC is utilized to interconnect rings or different nodes in a mesh network. There is now wide agreement that the big revolution in optical networking will occur in the form of optical-switching equipment [143].
Today, the hybrid OXC first converts the optical data to electronic data and uses DCS for the practical cross-connection. There is no other solution for very high numbers of input to output ports N N cross-connection. N may be on the order of thousands in a DCS, but only on the order of tens in all-optical switches today. But N is already on the order of a few hundreds in optical switches at the laboratory stage.
The OXC is based on a space switch, or on a wavelength space switch: WSXC or WIXC.
6.8.1 WSXC
6.8.1.1 Principle
Sometimes they are also called wavelength selective switches. One of the wavelengths arriving on one of the N ports is demultiplexed, and goes to the N N switch working on this specific wavelength. This wavelength can be switched to any chosen output port after multiplexing. N demultiplexers, J switches, and N multiplexers are used in an N N node with up...
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