An intelligent photonic burst switching (PBS) module for use in a WDM
optical switching network includes optical multiplexers and
de-multiplexers, an optical receiver array, an optical transmitter array,
a PBS fabric, and a control interface unit. The PBS module includes
optical buffering in a form of tunable wavelength converters (TWCs) and
variable time-delay optical circuits. The PBS module routes the received
optical burst labels and network management control labels to the
controller and optical burst data in a plurality of input lines,
respectively. The optical output lines provide propagation paths for a
plurality of TDM channels. More specifically, the controller processes
the control signal and, responsive thereto, causes the PBS to route at
least a portion of the data signal to one of the TDM channels. When the
desired TDM channel is not available, the controller causes a TWC to
effectively change the wavelength of at least a portion of the data
signal.