Abstract:
Limited Wavelength interchanging crossconnect (L-WIXC) is an essential element in a
WDM optical network which not only selects the route to be followed but also selects the
wavelength to be used along the selected route and improves blocking performance of the
network. It is superior to the OXC having full wavelength conversion capability in terms
of cost and complexity. Propagation through the switching elements that are the part of
OXC results in signal degradation and induces crosstalk both due to device intrinsic losses
and their imperfect operation. In this thesis work various types of crosstalk mechanism
and their sources for limited wavelength interchanging OXC for various architectures have
been identified and analytical formulations for the crosstalk have been carried out for all
architectures. The analytical formulations are used to find Bit error rate (BER), power
penalty and the effect of number of wavelength converters on a system. A Comparative
picture of the system performance has been depicted for all architectures of limited
wavelength interchanging OXC which will help the system designer to choose the
effective one.
