Tunable receiver for packet-switched WDMA systems

Abstract

High-speed packet-switched wavelength division multiaccess (WDMA) networks require a compact, low-cost, high-speed tunable receiver capable of covering a wide spectral range and narrow bandwidth. Further requirements include an optical bandwidth of about 30 nm, a large number of channels, polarization insensitivity, compactness, low loss, low crosstalk, low power consumption and low manufacturing cost. Of equal importance is the tuning control which should be discrete and should not require elaborate control schemes. An attempt to design such a tunable receiver for applications in WDMA networks is described here.