The Optical Signal-to-Crosstalk Ratio for the MBA(N, e, g) Switching Fabric †

Abstract

The banyan-type switching networks, well known in switching theory and called the logdN switching fabrics, are composed of symmetrical switching elements of size d×d. In turn, the modified baseline architecture, called the MBA(N,e,g), is only partially built from symmetrical optical switching elements, and it is constructed mostly from asymmetrical optical switching elements. Recently, it was shown that the MBA(N,e,g) structure requires a lower number of passive as well as active optical elements than the banyan-type switching fabric of the same capacity and functionality, which makes it an attractive solution. However, the optical signal-to-crosstalk ratio for the MBA(N,e,g) was not investigated before. Therefore, in this paper, the optical signal-to-crosstalk ratio in the MBA(N,e,g) was determined. Such crosstalk influences the output signal’s quality. Thus, if such crosstalk is lower, the signal quality is better. The switching fabric proposed in the author’s previous work has lower optical signal losses than a typical Beneš and banyan-type switching networks of this same capacity and functionality, which gives better quality of transmitted optical signals at the switching node’s output. The investigated MBA(N,e,g) architecture also contains one stage fewer than banyan-type network of the same capacity, which is an essential feature from the optical switching point of view.