Grosskopf, G.G.GrosskopfKuller, L.L.KullerLudwig, R.R.LudwigSchnabel, R.R.SchnabelWeber, H.G.H.G.Weber2022-03-022022-03-021989https://publica.fraunhofer.de/handle/publica/17797910.1007/BF02117683Applications of semiconductor laser optical amplifiers in coherent multichannel systems are investigated with respect to the switching and distribution of many channels to a large number of customers. All-optical switching of data signals is achieved with the optical amplifier operating as a frequency converter. Measurements of the conversion efficiency and a transmission experiment with a 1500 GHz conversion range are described. Possible applications are all-optical 'multipoint to point' and 'point to multipoint' switching. Optical amplifiers may also be useful in multichannel distribution networks to compensate for combining and splitting losses. The authors discuss an example demonstrating how optical amplifiers increase the number of customers in a coherent multichannel distribution system.enfrequency convertorslaser beam applicationsoptical communication equipmentoptical linksoptical lossesoptical switchessemiconductor junction lasersswitching networkstelecommunication networksmany channel networksall-optical switchingcombining lossesdistribution networkssemiconductor laser optical amplifierscoherent multichannel systemsdata signalsfrequency converterconversion efficiencymultipoint to pointpoint to multipointmultichannel distribution networkssplitting losses621535journal article