This paper presents a novel ATM router based on free space optical interconnects. The system consists of a VCSEL/CMOS chip that broadcasts N light beams (channels) which are divided into to M sections. A diffractive optic element then expands the number of these beams into N²/M beams which are incident on a smart photodetector array. This array performs an optical to electronic conversion and selects one of the 'input' channels and routes it to the proper output.

Date Published: 8 November 2001
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 4534, Optoelectronic and Wireless Data Management, Processing, Storage, and Retrieval, (8 November 2001); doi: 10.1117/12.448008

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4534:
Optoelectronic and Wireless Data Management, Processing, Storage, and Retrieval
Robert Raymond; Pradip K. Srimani; Renjeng Su; Carl W. Wilmsen, Editor(s)