Lucent Announces
World's First All-Optical Router

High-capacity, next-generation router should be 16 times faster than electrical switches, carry ten times the data.

by Wayne Kawamoto

Lucent Technology recently announced the development of the WaveStar LambdaRouter, which the company claims is the first high-capacity, all-optical router. The LambdaRouter uses 256 microscopic mirrors to direct and route optical signals, obviating the need to convert signals into an electronic form. According to Lucent, the LambdaRouter will be able to direct network traffic some 16 times faster than electrical switches, thus saving service providers up to 25 percent in operational costs.

Local service providers can use the LambdaRouter to establish instant, virtual fiber links between two locations. Without an all-optical link, this task,would require a carrier to patch together a series of digital switches, which takes time and effort.

The LambdaRouter uses Bell Labs' MicroStar technology. The heart of the router is an area of silicon less than a square inch in size that holds 256 tiny micro-mechanical mirrors. In operation, a single wavelength illuminates each mirror, and the mirrors tilt so that individual wavelengths may be passed to any of 256 input and output fibers. According to Lucent, this compact switching fabric provides more than 32 times the switching density of today's electronic fabrics. And with no optical-electrical-optical conversions, the LambdaRouter switch fabric should provide up to a 100-fold reduction in power consumption.

Fiber future
The LambdaRouter is the centerpiece of Lucent's all-optical network that will carry high-speed data and video services, and enable network providers to sell and manage bandwidth as individual optical wavelengths.

"Optical wavelengths are the true building blocks of next-generation networks, and Lucent will be the first to make all-optical networks a reality," says Gerry Butters, president of Lucent's Optical Networking Group. "In the 21st century, all-optical networks will deliver vast amounts of information literally at the speed of light, unimpeded by the bottlenecks of conventional transport systems," Butters said.

Lucent expects that the LambdaRouter will be available in June 2000.

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