Patent ID: 7206476

Claim:
An optical switch having a plurality of switch cells, wherein: said optical switch has n inputs (n is a natural number) and m outputs (m is a natural number); said optical switch has a unit size defined as the distance between any two adjacent ones of said switch cells; said optical switch comprises: a substrate having a switch size of K×L (K is an integer satisfying n≦K, and L is an integer satisfying m≦L), where K and L represent a number of rows and a number of columns, respectively, of said optical switch; first and second mirrors parallel to each other and perpendicular to a principal surface of said substrate; and an optical unit providing a plurality of input optical paths for said n inputs and a plurality of output optical paths for said m outputs, said plurality of input optical paths being inclined relative to said first and second mirrors, said plurality of output optical paths being inclined relative to said first and second mirrors; and each of said switch cells comprises a switch mirror provided movably relative to said substrate, wherein each switch cell switches between a first condition where said switch mirror is parallel to said principal surface of said substrate and a second condition where said switch mirror is perpendicular to said principal surface of said substrate, and said plurality of switch cells, said first and second mirrors, and said optical unit are arranged so that path lengths from said inputs to said outputs are equal.