Different Kinds of Optical Swi
Different Kinds of Optical Switches:The biggest problem with creating an all-optical network would be the switching; re-routing the information from source "A" to destination "B". When information is sent, it does not flow directly from point A to point B. It passes through a series of switches that narrow the path down, and eventually the signal reaches point B. These switches have thousand's of possible routes which information can be transfered. Right now, the optical networks that stretch across the globe switches electronically. This is a huge set back, if you are trying to make a network that works at the speed of light. Light travels at about 982,080,000 feet per second, and electrons at 300,000 ft/sec. So when an optical network uses an electronic switch, the light first has to be converted to an electronic signal, then it has to go through the switch, and finally the electrons are converted back to a light beam. This process only takes a few milliseconds, but these seconds can be compared to what an optical switch operates at which is nanoseconds. The signal is slowed down so much that it can be compared to going down the highway at top speed, then when you reach the off ramp you stop, get out of your car, stumble and w
It can change the orientation of polarized light, either vertical or horizontal, depending on whether a voltage is applied. There is room to improve in the number of mirrors in MEMS. This method is also very small in size, but there are problems trying to build switches that have 1000 input pipes and 1000 output pipes, due to the number of printer heads it uses. There are many problems with this kind of switch. It is a very unnecessary and costly reduction in speed. There are 256 mirrors that fit onto one piece of silicon that is 2. It uses mirrors that are less than half a millimeter in diameter. If it is polarized vertically, it moves to the right. The one problem with a mirror switch is that the mirrors may get misaligned, and send data off in strange directions. One of the best working switches is the MEMS Switch (shown on diagram). Another type of switch is the bubble switch. At the center of the "x" there is an inkjet head, if the switch is told to turn on, the inkjet head will blow a microscopic bubble, which reflects the light down a different pathway. Some of which are faster then others, but are all faster than optical-electric switches. Optical to electronic switches are more of an extreme, the light is going over 3,000 times faster than the electrons.
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