Technology

Today’s communication carriers and network operators are faced with increasingly challenging network traffic trends and some of these are:

• Bandwidth demand is increasing
• Traffic pattern is changing (more IP traffics)
• Growing cost and competitive pressures
• Shift from simple ring-based network to dynamic and mesh-based networks
• Proliferation of new and high capacity technologies

Optical networks are the only known telecommunication backbone networks capable of handling large bandwidth demand. An intense effort has been directed toward constructing dynamic and high-bandwidth optical networks such as scalable and transparent all-optical network. However such next-generation all-optical network requires a new class of advanced optical hardware. Among these, optical cross-connect (OXC) switch is the centerpiece of a transparent all-optical network, but it is known to be a very challenging optical hardware to implement.

While there are many proposed solutions, to date, there exists no OXC switch technology, which can be low cost, scalable to large port counts, reliable, modular, multifunctional, and mass-manufacturable. The 3D MEMS OXC is considered to be the only provisional hope for the industry (even though implementation of 3D-MEMS OXCs beyond 256x256 port count is widely believed to be impractical). However, the 3D MEMS OXC is believed to be unreliable and difficult to operate for the real-world network operation, because it requires constant monitoring and alignment of MEMS mirrors.

PetaComm has developed a unique and innovative solution to the OXC switch problems by utilizing mature and commercially proven liquid crystal & polarization optics technologies. It features a monolithically integrated device structure, which is simple and easy to manufacturable. The use of mature and commercially proven fabrication technologies, coupled with innovative device structure and simple fabrication process, can eliminate a substantial investment on specialized tools and expensive equipments and it will dramatically reduce the OXC switch costs by a factor of magnitude than currently available solutions.

PetaComm has a number of Intellectual Property (IP) protections for its technology. PetaComm was awarded two of the key patents covering its technology and also has other IP protections in process.

• US Patent 6,259,831: All-Optical Interconnect Utilizing Polarization Gates
• US Patent 6,252,710: Polarizer Devices and Methods for Making the Same