Demonstration of all-optical format conversion from wavelength-hopping time-spreading to non-return-to-zero

We present a novel design for all-optical conversion from wavelength-hopping time-spreading to non-return-to-zero format using wavelength converters based on semiconductor optical amplifiers. The multi-pulse nature of the wavelength-hopping time-spreading signal is utilized to achieve efficient, high-performance format conversion without pulse replication. The operation is demonstrated with a power penalty of 1 dB. A novel, complete design for interfacing wavelength-hopping time-spreading networks to WDM networks is also presented.