Analyzing Power Consumption in Optical Cross-connect Equipment for Future Large-Capacity Optical Networks

We describe a comparative analysis of the power consumption of optical cross-connect (OXC) equipment based on electrical and/or photonic matrix switching, which will be used for future large-capacity optical networks. The switch configurations used for both types of OXCs are also comprehensively discussed. For optical networks that accommodate traffic with a capacity of several Tb/s, the power consumption of the OXC equipment based on electrical switching could reach more than 50 kW; this can be reduced to 8 – 30 kW if photonic switching is used instead. In photonic switching-based OXC equipment, the power consumption of transponders becomes the most significant, and its reduction is the key issue for powerefficient large-capacity OXC equipment.