Design of Novel Fiber Optical Flexible Routing System

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a new versatile routing device that utilizes arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs), optical switches, and optical circulators to implement reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (ROADMs), optical interleavers, and optical cross-connect (OXC). With the development of dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) technology, ROADM and OXC technologies have also been put into practical use. Thus, the optical signal can be routed directly in the optical network according to its wavelength without the need for optical-electrical-optical (OEO) conversion. Although different optical network units (ONUs) have different bandwidth requirements, the use of optical interleavers has successfully solved the connection problem between old and new systems. According to the numerical experiments of static characteristics, the proposed routing device can effectively implement three different functionalities, thereby providing greater flexibility for fiber optic network applications.