SBIR PHASE II: New Architectures and Applications of Multiwavelength Optical Networks using Waveguide Grating Routers

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This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project from Optivision, Incorporated will demonstrate the advantages of wavelength routing in telecommunication networks through the prototyping of an integrated optical add/drop multiplexing (OADM) system which combines waveguide grating routers (WGRS) with network management and control functionality. The prototype OADM system, including an electronic control board, will serve as the basic platform to experiment and evaluate solutions to system issues, especially on network management and control. The continued investigation of network architectures that incorporate wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network system elements will explore opportunities for interconnecting the prototype OADM with other network systems for commercial/testbed deployment. The Phase I effort of this SBIR identified the optical crossconnect (OXC) and the optical add/drop multiplexer (OADM) as two important system elements in multiwavelength telecommunication transport networks. Different system architectures were designed utilizing the unique wavelength routing capability of the waveguide grating router (WGR) device. Optivision also identified a set of system issues that are critical to the successful commercial applications of WDM systems, including network control and management, network restoration strategy, and network architectures that interwork with existing equipment. Solutions to these issues are currently open research topics and are expected to comprise a significant part of the proposed Phase II research effort. The project will produce a prototype 4-wavelength optical add/drop multiplexer, the optical performance measurement results, the specification for network management and control functions, algorithms and analytical results for wave-length assignment, and a set of recommendations on network interconnection architectures and automatic fault-recovery mechanisms. The proposed optical add/drop multiplexer (OADM) has enormous potential applications in telecommunication infrastructure. By integrating the unique feature of waveguide grating router (WGR) devices with management and control functions, results from this research effort can be utilized in (WDM) network testbeds as well as commercial networking environments. The proposed wavelength routing technology, if successful, will benefit the nation in the cost-effective realization and management of wavelength routing in the next generation multiwavelength telecommunication transport networks.