Header extraction with SOA-MZI in optical packet networks

In this paper, a novel approach based on Semiconductor Optical Amplifier Mach-Zehnder interferometer (SOA-MZI) for extracting the bit-serial header from optical packet is proposed Numerical analysis and simulation show that more than 15dB contrast ratio of the separated header at 2.5Gbit/s to the suppressed payload at 40Gbit/s achieved. In addition, the SOA-MZI parameters are discussed and designed to optimize the performance of the proposed scheme.