Tunable optical wavelength converter with reconfigurable functionality

Wavelength converters are potentially important components in future wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) networks. Wavelength converters with reconfigurable functionality may enable WDM networks to have improved operational flexibility. In this paper we propose a novel reconfigurable all-optical wavelength converter. The wavelength converter is tunable to a number of output wavelengths and can be easily reconfigured to provide the following: (a) no wavelength conversion, (b) single wavelength conversion, (c) multicasting (i.e., multiple wavelength conversion), and (d) path termination (i.e., blocking). Wavelength conversion is achieved by cross-gain modulation in a semiconductor optical amplifier. The wavelength converter uses an arrayed-waveguide grating multiplexer to provide all necessary coupling and filtering functions. The circuit has a low component count, and has the potential for integration. We demonstrate operation of the wavelength converter experimentally and report the bit-error-rate performance at 2.5 Gbit/s. Less than 3 dB power penalty at all outputs is observed.