A deflection routing scheme for small to medium size future all-optical networks with arbitrary topologies is proposed. The proposed scheme assumes only single-bit all-optical processing and no buffers. The primary output selection and the alternate output choices by a packet at each node are encoded in the packet header in order to reduce the signal processing requirement. Additional features such as priority and time-to-live fields have also been defined. The performance of the deflection routing scheme is studied using the AT&T North America OC-48 optical fiber network topology.

MEMS optical switch technology is one of the key technologies in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical networks. Although the 2-D MEMS optical switch technology is mature, the commonly used crossbar architecture is not amenable to building large switches. In this paper, we propose a design of 2x2 switching modules, and use it to build large 2-D MEMS optical switches with architectures such as Spanke-Benes and Benes networks.

Two multicast protocols are proposed for deflection-routed all-optical packet-switched networks. One scheme sends a deflected multicast packet back to the root node while the other sends it back to the deflection point. Both schemes can be implemented using demonstrated optical signal processing technology. The performance of the two proposed multicast schemes are compared using Manhattan street networks. We found that the back-to-the-root-node scheme performed better than the back-to-the-deflection-node scheme. A hybrid approach can further improve the system performance.

A deflection routing algorithm that can be applied to a novel self-routing address scheme for networks with arbitrary topology is proposed. The proposed deflection routing algorithm can be implemented all-optically using bitwise optical logic gates. Besides the primary output link selection, alternate output link choices by a packet at each node in case of deflection are also encoded in the address header. Priority classes can also be defined in the proposed address scheme. The performance of the deflection routing algorithm is studied using the AT&T North America OC-48 optical fiber network topology.

Due to limited available photonic devices, optical networks in the near future will likely employ routing schemes that do not require sophisticated processing of optical packets. In this paper, we propose a novel self-routing scheme for all-optical packet networks that can be applied to networks with arbitrary topology. The proposed routing scheme requires only single bit processing and can be implemented with existing technologies.