A Multihop Architecture for a Photonic Network of Time- Multiplexed Switches.

A Multihop Architecture for a Photonic NEtwork of Time- multiplexed Switches (for brevity, MAPNETS) is presented. The proposed architecture eliminates the need for the, not currently available, photonic time-slot interchangers at the switches of the network. In addition, it uses the available time-slots more efficiently, and it eliminates the need for inter-processor communication for call set-ups and tear-downs. The proposed architecture achieves these by permanently assigning the time- slots and the switches' reconfiguration patterns in a manner that allows pairs of users to communicate either directly (without hopping) or after their messages have been routed through another user (with hopping). The end-terminals would require additional electronics to perform the necessary routing (hopping) of the messages. As a consequence, MAPNETS produces a network with rather simple wide-band switches interconnecting smart end- terminals. The MAPNETS architecture does not require optical components not yet readily available, can be implemented today, and takes advantage of the current capabilities of both optical and electronic technologies. However, there are many other issues that need to be addressed; the architecture is introduced here as a concept for further consideration.