All-optical code routing in interconnected optical CDMA and WDM ring networks

We propose an all-optical hybrid network composed of optical code division multiple access (CDMA) rings interconnecting through a reconfigurable wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) metro area ring. This network retains the advantages of both the optical CDMA and WDM techniques, including asynchronous access and differentiated quality of service, while removing the hard limit on the number of subscribers and increasing network flexibility. The all-optical network is enabled by using nonlinear optical loop mirrors in an add/drop router (ADR) that performs code conversion, dropping, and switching asynchronously. We experimentally demonstrate the functionalities of the ADR in the proposed scheme asynchronously and obtain error-free performance. The bit-error rate measurements show acceptable power penalties for different code routes.