Wavelength converter sharing in a WDM optical packet switch: dimensioning and performance issues

This paper analyses the performance of an optical packet switch making use of fiber delay-lines to resolve output packet contentions and equipped with a set of tunable wavelength converters (TOWCs) shared among the input lines. The wavelength converters can shift optical packets to any wavelength of the output link which they are directed to. An analytical model is developed to evaluate the number of TOWCs needed to satisfy given performance requirements. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis with respect to both the optical packet switch parameters and the traffic load is carried out. The obtained results show that the number of converters needed to maintain the packet loss probability is much lower than that needed by the switches proposed in literature. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.