Opto-electronic distributed crossbar switch

Abstract

The invention is an optoelectronic (OE) crossbar switch ( ) for both digital and analog signals, used either separately or combined, whose functions are reconfigurable and distributed. The invention allows multiple senders to be connected with multiple receivers simultaneously. The invention uses optical filters for wavelength division multiplexing and demultiplexing (WDM and WDD). A single fiber module input/output port carries multiple bi-directional signals that are optically filtered out in the module using WDM/WDD filters ( ) at each sender/receiver and then selected after optical filtering using photodiode detectors ( ) as detectors and switches. Laser transmitters ( ), photodiode detectors ( ), and smart electronics ( ) are used to implement the crossbar switch functions. In addition to optical filters, the use of time division multiplexing (TDM) and code division multiple access (CDMA) implemented either electrically or optically are taught to increase the number of independent users that the distributed switch handles. The switch can be cascaded with other switches using optical bridging circuits ( ) to create a scaleable interconnect fabric. An arbitration technique can be used which allows signals to be sent only when the intended receiver is capable of accepting these signals.