Crosstalk-Aware Wavelength-Switched All-to-All Optical Interconnect Using Sub-Optimal AWGRs

We propose a crosstalk (XT)-aware wavelength (lambda)-detuning scheme to overcome the non-optimal in-band XT limiting all-to-all optical interconnects based on sub-optimal arrayed waveguide grating routers (AWGR). Experimental validation is demonstrated employing an 8 x 8 O-band cyclic Si-AWGR with 10 nm channel spacing and a 5.5 nm channel bandwidth, where the in-band XT limits the simultaneous use of the same lambda in only 2 out of the 8 possible AWGR I/O routing scenarios, yielding a 10(-7) error-floor when > 3 channels at the same lambda are launched. We present experimentally an 8x25 Gb/s lambda-switched interconnect exploiting slightly detuned lambda s around the central lambda for realizing all 8 possible I/O routing scenarios, enabling an error-free all-to-all interconnect even for sub-optimal AWGRs. Error-free simultaneous transmission via the AWGR of all 8 channels using 4 lambda s and a lambda utilization factor 2 is shown, with a max. power penalty of 4.64 dB at 10(-9) error-rate.