A method and a controller for operating an array of variable optical retarders are disclosed. Neighboring pixels of the array of variable optical retarders are driven with disordered temporal bit sequences. An optical beam illuminating the pixels tends to integrate time-domain modulation caused by individual pixels driven in a non-coordinated or disordered fashion, which reduces the overall time-domain modulation amplitude of the optical beam.

Methods and systems include a method, comprising: providing, by an orchestrator of a network element, an optical service loading request identifying requested passbands to be loaded on a wavelength selective switch (WSS) for transmission of optical content; determining, by a loading manager of the network element, a subset of the requested passbands to be loaded on the WSS based on a downstream band signal status; and loading, by control blocks of the network element, the subset of the requested passbands on the WSS. The optical content includes client data and amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise. The network element comprises an ASE source, a light source, a light sink, a line port coupled to an optical fiber link, tributary ports, and the WSS. At least one of the tributary ports is coupled to the ASE source. The light source and the light sink transmit and receive the client data, respectively.

An object of the present disclosure is to reduce a communication stop time that occurs with optical fiber switching.

The present disclosure is an optical fiber switching method for switching a communication partner of a first optical communication device connected to a first optical fiber from a second optical communication device connected to the first optical fiber to a third optical communication device connected to a second optical fiber, the method including: polishing each of side surfaces of the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber to a vicinity of a core; bringing polishing surfaces of the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber close to each other to form an optical coupler that couples the first optical fiber and the second optical fiber; and switching from the first optical fiber to the second optical fiber, using the optical coupler.

Described herein are systems and methods for dynamically configuring memory using Optical Circuit Switching (OCS). As electrical processing units such as accelerators are limited by their available bandwidth, providing disaggregated memory can help expand memory and enable better processing performance. Providing OCS devices to dynamically reconfigure processor-to-processor and processor-to-memory connections enables flexible reconfiguration of the disaggregated memory and improve performance of the system.