We present a 40 Gb/s asynchronous self-routing network and node architecture that exploits bit and packet level optical signal processing to perform synchronization, forwarding and switching. Optical packets are self-routed on a hop-by-hop basis through the network by using stacked optical tags, each representing a specific optical node. Each tag contains control signals for configuring the switching matrix and forwarding each packet to the appropriate outgoing link and onto the next hop. Physical layer simulations are performed, modeling each optical subsystem of the node showing acceptable signal quality and Bit Error Rates. Resource reservationbased signaling algorithms are theoretically modeled for the control plane capable of providing high performance in terms of blocking probability and holding time.