AI-Optimised Tuneable Sources for Bandwidth-Scalable, Sub-Nanosecond Wavelength Switching
Published in Optics Express, 2021
Recommended citation: T. Gerard, C. W. F. Parsonson, Z. Shabka, B. Thomsen, P. Bayvel, D. Lavery and G. Zervas, "AI-Optimised Tuneable Sources for Bandwidth-Scalable, Sub-Nanosecond Wavelength Swithching", Optics Express, 2021 https://opg.optica.org/oe/fulltext.cfm?uri=oe-29-7-11221&id=449558
Wavelength routed optical switching promises low power and latency networking for data centres, but requires a wideband wavelength tuneable source (WTS) capable of sub-nanosecond switching at every node. We propose a hybrid WTS that uses time-interleaved tuneable lasers, each gated by a semiconductor optical amplifier, where the performance of each device is optimised using artificial intelligence. Through simulation and experiment we demonstrate record wavelength switch times below 900 ps across 6.05 THz (122×50 GHz) of continuously tuneable optical bandwidth. A method for further bandwidth scaling is evaluated and compared to alternative designs.