Bubbling over: Can road to all-optical lead through inkjet technology?

While most computer users loathe inkjet printers, the technology behind those machines has created a new photonic switch that eliminates the need for electronics.

At last week's Optical Fiber Communications show in Baltimore, Agilent Technologies generated a stir among vendors and Wall Street, unveiling its photonic switching platform. With that news, Agilent shares soared almost 40 points before retreating in the following session.

Agilent plans to offer the platform, which is expected to be available at the end of the year, to vendors for inclusion in optical cross-connects, optical add/drop multiplexers and optical protection switching modules.

"It all started about six or seven years ago when our project manager Julie Fouquet suggested the inkjet technology as a way to use bubbles to help reflect light without moving parts," said Tom White, senior vice president and general manager of Agilent's communications solutions group. "We didn't know if it would work, but we had a lot of people saying, `if you can make it, we will buy it.'"

The platform combines inkjet printer technology and planar lightwave circuit technologies.

The platform consists of waveguides, which are filled with fluid and intersect at cross points. Heat is created underneath a cross point, which forms a bubble that reflects and alters the direction of the light. If the traffic doesn't need to be diverted, the controlling software doesn't create a bubble and lets the light flow through.

The mechanism, which is about the size of a quarter, eliminates the need for moving parts, said John O'Rourke, general manager of Agilent's optical networking division. "And we do it without the need for taking the traffic back to electrical. Why demux it down and remux it back up when we can keep it at the optical level?"

The platform also is resistant to environmental problems and faults due to the extremely high surface tension used to keep the bubbles in place and the small size of the unit, O'Rourke said.

Although the switch has a seemingly small 32-by-32 port count, those numbers can be increased by adding more units.

"We designed it small so a `pay-as-you-grow' philosophy could be used," O'Rourke said.

Analysts were generally upbeat. "There will definitely be applications for it," said Ken Kelly, senior analyst at Dataquest.

Alcatel is an early adopter and plans to use the platform. Lucent Technologies also is rumored to be considering the technology.