Multiwavelength packet switching system employing a subcarrier multiplexed packet address coding scheme

A multiwavelength packet switching system employing a new packet address coding scheme is presented and experimentally demonstrated. In the proposed coding scheme, the packet address of an output node is represented by the pre-assigned RF frequencies which are subcarrier multiplexed (SCM) with packet data over the whole packet duration. The address information is recovered at a packet switching controller by detecting the presence of the carrier frequencies, so that the address processing time can be reduced and the related electronic control hardware can be minimized resulting in a fast photonic switching system.