Experimental and analytical evaluation of packaged 4x4 InGaAsP/InP semiconductor optical amplifier gate switch matices for optical networks

Packaged 4 × 4 semiconductor optical amplifier gate switch arrays have been studied experimentally and analytically. Experimentally, a dynamic range of the input power to the switch of more than 20 dB was obtained at 622 Mb/s with less than 2 dB power penalty. Wavelength division multiplexing transmission with four channels at 622 Mb/s each through the same path was successfully demonstrated. The switch was also evaluated in an installed fiber network, where a 2.5 Gb/s signal was transmitted through three cascaded switch routes and 160 km fiber. A numerical time-domain model incorporating an electrical filter in the receiver confirmed the experimental results. It furthermore indicated that residual reflections between the different waveguide sections within the switch and at the chip facets may degrade the performance of the switch.