Performance analysis of fiber optical wide area network using SDM/WDM router

A spatial division multiplexing/wavelength division multiplexing (SDM/WDM) router has been designed for a fiber optical wide area network (WAN). The router includes a 32 × 32 optical switch and eight 1 × 4 demultiplexers (DeMUXs) and eight 4 × 1 multiplexers (MUXs). The system performances for various spans and transmission speeds are simulated and compared with the results of analytical calculations. Both the LiNbO3 and semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) switches for the dilated Benes switch configuration are studied. The simulation results show that the SDM/WDM WAN using the SOA based router performs better than the LiNbO3.