Fixed-Wavelength Conversion for Contention Resolution in Optical Packet Switches

Wavelength conversion (WC) is highly useful for contention resolution ill optical packet switches (OPS). However, the immature technology and the high cost of full-range tunable-wavelength converters (FTWCs) remain big challenges. We propose a new scheme in OPS where fixed-wavelength converters (FWCs) instead of FTWCs are used ill contention resolution. This scheme is cost-effective and easier to implement. The performance of the FWC is compared with that of the FTWC. Our simulation results under different scenarios clearly show that the new scheme call achieve a performance comparable to that of, the FTWC case, at significantly lower complexity and cost. (C) 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.