Wavelength remapping in an on-chip wavelength division multiplexing (wdm) solution

A photonic integrated circuit (PIC), comprising:

• an optical switching network having N inputs, N outputs, a plurality of directional couplers arranged in a plurality of stages including first, second and third stages, wherein the directional couplers of the second stage are coupled to outputs of the directional couplers of the first stage and to inputs of the directional couplers of the third stage, wherein the plurality of stages comprise Log2(N) stages, and
• a plurality of optical transmitters coupled to the N outputs of the optical switching network, each optical transmitter of the plurality of optical transmitters being configured to encode light received from the respective output with data.

A method for operating a photonic integrated circuit (PIC), comprising:

• using an optical switching network having a plurality of inputs and a plurality of outputs to, in response to receiving light having wavelengths corresponding to a first wavelength set at a first subset of the plurality of inputs and light having wavelengths corresponding to a second wavelength set at a second subset of the plurality of inputs in accordance with a first spatial order, output light having wavelengths corresponding to the first wavelength set at a first subset of the plurality of outputs and light having wavelengths corresponding to the second wavelength set at a second subset of the plurality of outputs in accordance with a second spatial order, wherein the first spatial order differs from the second spatial order;
• and
• using a plurality of optical transmitters, coupled to the plurality of outputs of the optical switching network and co-integrated with the optical switching network on the PIC, to encode light received from respective outputs with data.