A summary is presented of research conducted over the last few years concerning the LAMBDANET multiwavelength optical network. Descriptions are given of some variations, including several applications based on these architectures. Experimental results demonstrate the technological feasibility of this approach. The LAMBDANET design incorporates three basic ingredients: (1) it associates a unique optical wavelength with each transmitting node in a cluster of nodes; (2) the physical topology is that of a broadcast star; and (3) each receiving node identifies transmitting nodes based on the transmission wavelength through wavelength demultiplexing. This network design features full connectivity among the nodes, large nonblocking throughput, data format transparency, and flexible control. The LAMBDANET network is used for both point-to-point and point-to-multipoint applications.>

The authors discuss system aspects and describe experimental demonstrations of nanosecond wavelength tuning in laser diode structures. Both tunable transmitters and tunable filters are considered. The dependence of the refractive index on the carrier density in semiconductors is exploited to obtain fast wavelength tuning. Experimentally, switching times of>

A novel architecture is presented for a optoelectronic hybrid packet-switching system (HYPASS) for the distribution of multiple-bit-rate broadband services. HYPASS is based on an input-buffered/output-controlled arbitration protocol. This packet switch uses novel multiwave-length optical networks to accomplish routing and transmission of the packets. This system is specifically adapted to utilize the strengths of both optical and electronic technologies.>

An architecture is presented for an optoelectronic hybrid packet switching system (HYPASS) for the distribution of multiple-bit-rate broadband services. HYPASS is based on an input-buffered/output-controlled arbitration protocol. The internal routing and interconnection utilizes a passive optical transport network with wavelength-tunable laser transmitters and fixed wavelength receivers. The single-stage multiwavelength optical interconnect provides an internally nonblocking network for large throughput routing of the bit-serial optical signals. An internal optical control network, with fixed-wavelength trouble receivers, sends output port information to the input nodes for arbitration and control. Packet buffer storage and control processing is performed by word-parallel electronic circuitry. The characteristics and device requirements for this design are presented along with results of a performance analysis of the arbitration and control protocol.>

Simulated annealing, a new general-purpose method of multivariate optimization, is applied to global wire routing for both idealized (synthetic) and actual designs of realistic size and complexity. Since the simulated annealing results are better than those obtained by conventional methods we use them as a standard against which to compare several sequential or greedy strategies commonly employed in automatic wiring programs.