Label processing method for packetised optical signals using a plurality of probe signals and an optical AND gate

摘要

An optical processing arrangement has a "compact all-optical function" which receives as inputs a DPSK packet with N label bits, and a plurality of probe signals in the form of N Continuous Wave (CW) lightwaves. The time interval between adjacent probe signals is equal to the time interval between label bits. The "compact all-optical function" produces two synchronous outputs: a DPSK demodulated data packet (referenced 'A') and a sequence of N coloured pulses (referenced 'B') synchronous to the demodulated label bits. These outputs are fed as inputs into an optical logic AND gate to transfer the label pattern to the coloured pulses. Thus the invention provides an all-optical label extraction method using time-to-wavelength conversion / series-to-parallel conversion.