One of the fundamental pillars in the development of the next generation of broadband optical networks is scalability. This thesis explores a variety of scaling issues in photonic packet-switched networks based on optical time-division multiplexing (TDM) technology.; One of the factors limiting the scalability of fiber optic networks is optical amplification. Although the erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) has been very successful for systems operating at 1.55 mum, a 1.3 mum amplifier is needed to support the large base of embedded fiber optimized for this wavelength as well as newer cable TV and access networks. A praseodymium-doped fluoride fiber amplifier (PDFFA) is designed and developed, and the challenges in making a practical amplifier are discussed.; Optical demultiplexers allow for the detection of ultra-high bit-rate data streams. Three different optical switch geometries are analyzed in terms of their temporal switching window profile. A 1.5 ps wide switching window is experimentally demonstrated using one of the switch geometries, thus allowing for the detection of single-channel bit rates exceeding 640 Gb/s.; As the bit rate increases, synchronization becomes more of an issue. The impact of timing jitter is evaluated, and techniques for performing synchronization are discussed. A new technique based on an optical switch with feedback is proposed and demonstrated using 100 Gb/s optical TDM packets.; Optical packet compression and decompression techniques are explored. As the packet length is increased, the loss of various compression and decompression structures is analyzed. A novel structure is proposed that allows for the simultaneous compression and decompression of packets. Using 100 Gb/s packet bit rate, an experimental demonstration of the structure is performed.; A testbed is constructed to demonstrate the functions necessary for a packet-switched network based on optical TDM. The major subsystems include packet generation and compression, all-optical header processing, and packet routing. An experimental demonstration is performed with 100 Gb/s optical TDM packets.; Finally, optical TDM techniques are applied to analog signal transmission. Networks for supporting analog packet services as well as analog circuit services are proposed. Experimental demonstrations are performed to illustrate the capabilities of this approach to data communications.
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