Patent ID: 7024076

Claim:
An optical router for switching between paths for a specific optical packet out of an optical signal consisting of an optical packet train having a plurality of optical packets coupled together, said optical router comprising: an optical branch for branching said optical packet train input from an optical transmission input line; an optical packet header identifier for receiving one of optical outputs from said optical branch; said optical packet header comprising: an optical waveguide, a tilted grating for diffracting an optical beam propagating within a core of said optical waveguide toward an outside of said optical waveguide, a set of tilted gratings constituted by said tilted grating and having a thickness of gratings approximately equal to a length occupied in a direction along an optical axis within said optical waveguide by one bit of a signal of an optical packet, and said plurality of sets of tilted gratings are encoded and arranged in a direction along an optical axis based on a specific header code for said optical packet; optical beam focusing means for spatially focusing optical beams diffracted by all of the sets of tilted gratings; a first photo receiver for receiving said focused optical beams; and a second photo receiver for receiving an optical beam propagating though said optical waveguide at an output end of said optical waveguide an optical delay device for making the other of optical outputs from said optical branch delay by a predetermined time delay; an optical switch for outputting at least one optical packet having a header identified by said optical packet header identifier, said optical packet being separated from said optical packet train output from said optical delay device, to a first optical transmission output line, and outputting optical packets excluding said at least one optical packet identified by said optical packet header identifier to a second optical transmission output line, based on an output from said optical packet header identifier.