Highly flexible all-optical wavelength conversion at 2.488 Gbits/s using a multi-output-wavelength laser

An integrated multiwavelength grating cavity (MGC) laser fabricated by selective area regrowth is demonstrated. In addition to allowing wavelength conversion, the device can perform various important network functions such as space switching and multiplexing. The use of the device for these functions offers several advantages from a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network, such as flexibility, reduced component count, size, and the associated cost reduction.