Performance evaluation of large capacity broadcast-and-select optical crossconnects

Abstract In this work, two bufferless high capacity broadcast-and-select optical switching node architectures are presented and their performance is evaluated. The architectures are modular permitting the expansion from basic to complex structures by adding new blocks/components in a gradual way, enhancing at the same time the corresponding network functionality. The blocking performance is assessed and scheduling algorithms are proposed to solve contention for a single node. Finally, physical layer modeling is carried out in order to investigate node scalability and node cascadeability. Overall, the proposed solutions are offering modularity, transparency to switching technology, graceful evolution and high performance at an affordable cost.