Patent ID: 6160928
Filing Date: 2000-12-12
Classification: G02B,G02F,H04Q

Abstract:
A fault tolerant optical switch, comprising:a plurality of intersecting waveguide segments;a plurality of crosspoint switch elements, each of said crosspoint switch elements configured to allow the passage of light when in a transmissive state and configured to reflect light when in a reflective state, each crosspoint switch element located at an intersection of two of said waveguide segments, each said intersection of two waveguide segments and each of said plurality of crosspoint switch elements defining an optical switch point, wherein the placement of said crosspoint switch element on a first side of said intersection of two waveguide segments defines a first type optical switch point, a plurality of said first type optical switch points configured in a matrix, said matrix comprising a plurality of rows and columns;an additional row of said first type optical switch points and an additional column of said first type optical switch points; andan optical reflector located at an intersection of said additional row and said additional column of said first type optical switch points, wherein said optical reflector comprises a second type optical switch point defined by the placement of said crosspoint switch element on a second side of said intersection of two waveguide segments.