Grant: Idea to Innovation
University of Ottawa
$125,000.00
High-speed colorless compact wavelength selective switch with silicon-on-insulator photonic integrated
FY 2010-11
Summary
The goal of this project is to demonstrate that our innovative micro-sized optical switch (MSOS) technology is
sufficiently tested and will work as the key building brick of single-chip wavelength selective switches (WSS).
The expected results are a prototype small switch array (SSA) and narrow band tuneable filter (NBTF) test
structures based on the MSOS technology. The SSA will be designed, fabricated in the form of a chip and
packaged for comprehensive testing. Measurements of insertion loss, crosstalk, switching speed, and switching
energy are expected to confirm our predictions based on a corpus of evidence gathered from simulations and
measurements on fabricated test-structures. The corpus will be augmented by the measurements on the NBTF
structures to establish the viability of a single-chip WSS product. The project is innovative because it combines
novel devices in the silicon on insulator (SOI) photonic light circuit (PLC) integration platform to reduce
footprint size and access the economics of volume production. This is important because customers will apply
the WSS in micro-Reconfigurable Optical Add Drop Module (µROADM) applications at network nodes
carrying optical communication signals using DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing), which is
the incumbent technique today when it comes to scale bandwidth per fibre. The major cost in optoelectronic
systems is assembly and packaging particularly when 'active' alignment is essential. These costs are minimised
if as proposed the system is partitioned between single-chip subsystems in a way that minimises the number of
optical ports crossing the chip boundaries. The proposed research will contribute directly to providing
broadband access to all, which is now essential to the economic and social well-being of developed societies. It
will help position Canada as a world leader in a rapidly expanding sector of the worldwide marketplace. The
total addressable markets for WSS based µROADMs are already $225M in 2009 and are slated to grow to
nearly $400M in 2012. Equally important, the research will develop highly qualified and skilled personnel;
promoting effective knowledge transfer and helping to fill the employment needs of the industry.
Program
Idea to Innovation
Recipient
Location
Ontario, Canada
Recipient Type
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
As published
Application id
395125-2009
Name nom
Hall, Trevor
Department département
Information Technology and Engineering, School of
Organization id
28
Institution établissement
University of Ottawa
Province en
Ontario
Province fr
Ontario
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2010
Competition year année de concours
2009
Award amount
125000
Program id
I2IPJ
Program name en
Idea to Innovation
Program name fr
De l'idée à l'innovation
Group en
Research partnerships programs
Group fr
Programmes de partenariat
Committee code
96
Committee name en
RPP Internal Decision Cttee
Committee name fr
Cté de décision interne - PPR
Area of application code
514
Area of application group en
Manufacturing processes and products
Area of application group fr
Procédés et produits industriels
Area of application en
Communications equipment
Area of application fr
Matériel de télécommunications
Research subject code
2505
Research subject group en
Electrical and electronic engineering
Research subject group fr
Génie électrique et électronique
Research subject en
Photon devices
Research subject fr
Dispositifs photoniques
Partie
1
Nb partie
1
Application title
High-speed colorless compact wavelength selective switch with silicon-on-insulator photonic integrated
Keyword
NSERC
Application summary
The goal of this project is to demonstrate that our innovative micro-sized optical switch (MSOS) technology is
sufficiently tested and will work as the key building brick of single-chip wavelength selective switches (WSS).
The expected results are a prototype small switch array (SSA) and narrow band tuneable filter (NBTF) test
structures based on the MSOS technology. The SSA will be designed, fabricated in the form of a chip and
packaged for comprehensive testing. Measurements of insertion loss, crosstalk, switching speed, and switching
energy are expected to confirm our predictions based on a corpus of evidence gathered from simulations and
measurements on fabricated test-structures. The corpus will be augmented by the measurements on the NBTF
structures to establish the viability of a single-chip WSS product. The project is innovative because it combines
novel devices in the silicon on insulator (SOI) photonic light circuit (PLC) integration platform to reduce
footprint size and access the economics of volume production. This is important because customers will apply
the WSS in micro-Reconfigurable Optical Add Drop Module (µROADM) applications at network nodes
carrying optical communication signals using DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing), which is
the incumbent technique today when it comes to scale bandwidth per fibre. The major cost in optoelectronic
systems is assembly and packaging particularly when 'active' alignment is essential. These costs are minimised
if as proposed the system is partitioned between single-chip subsystems in a way that minimises the number of
optical ports crossing the chip boundaries. The proposed research will contribute directly to providing
broadband access to all, which is now essential to the economic and social well-being of developed societies. It
will help position Canada as a world leader in a rapidly expanding sector of the worldwide marketplace. The
total addressable markets for WSS based µROADMs are already $225M in 2009 and are slated to grow to
nearly $400M in 2012. Equally important, the research will develop highly qualified and skilled personnel;
promoting effective knowledge transfer and helping to fill the employment needs of the industry.
