Large Capacity Multiaccess Optical Packet Network

A multiaccess optical packet network capable of providing multigigabit-per-second transmission per user is presented. The proposed system is based on wavelength division multiplexing and frequency routing. It is optically transparent, has no internal blocking, and is optically self-routing. Users freely transmit their packets. Collision-free reception is achieved by means of a novel fast-tunable optical filter that controls the packet flow. Reception acknowledgments are passively generated without the use of optical sources and are transported on the same packet network. Assuming a single transmitter per user, and either one or two receivers (each with its own fiber) per user, the system throughput can approach 60% and 90% (per wavelength), respectively. 1041-1135/94$04.00.