Patent ID: 8355507

Claim:
An optical switching and delay system for optical encryption and/or optical decryption, comprising: a first switch bank configured to receive an optical signal in a first arrangement, the first switch bank configured to route the optical signal to a first set of optical delay lines according to a first switching arrangement key; the first set of optical delay lines communicatively coupled to the first switch bank, the first set of optical delay lines configured to provide delays to the optical signal; a first combiner communicatively coupled to the first set of optical delay lines, the first combiner configured to receive the optical signal with delays from the first set of optical delay lines, the first combiner configured to combine the optical signal into a second arrangement; a first processor communicatively coupled to the first switch bank, the first processor configured to receive the first switching arrangement key, the first processor configured to control the first switch bank according to the first switching arrangement key, wherein the first switching arrangement key comprises a set of instructions for routing the optical signal; and an interferometer configured to impress radio frequency (RF) information onto optical pulse carriers and to produce the optical signal in the first arrangement, wherein the first switch bank comprises a demultiplexer and multiple switches, wherein the optical signal comprises optical pulses, and wherein the demultiplexer comprises one input and multiple outputs, the multiple outputs comprise a first output and a second output, and the demultiplexer is configured to output a first set of the optical pulses onto the first output and a second set of the optical pulses onto the second output.