title: Dynamically reconfigurable optical packet switch (DROPS).
abstract: A novel Dynamically Reconfigurable Optical Packet Switch (DROPS) that combines both spectral and spatial switching capabilities is proposed and experimentally demonstrated for the first time. Compared with an Arrayed Waveguide Grating Router (AWGR), the added spatial switching capability provided by the microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) enables dynamically reconfigurable routing that is not possible with an AWGR alone. This methodology has several advantages over an AWGR including scalability, additional degrees of freedom in routing a packet from an ingress port to an egress port and more flexibility in path or line card recovery. The experimental demonstration implemented with 10-Gb/s packets shows that the added spatial switching does not degrade the bit-error-rate performance, indicating the promising potential of DROPS as a versatile and ultra-high capacity switch for optical packet-switched networks.
authors.forename: Chi-Heng
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Hsu-Feng
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Bowers
authors.forename: Farzam
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Toudeh-Fallah
authors.forename: Russ
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gyurek