Patent ID: 6959003

Claim:
A serial transmission path switching system comprising: a switch section having a plurality of input lines and a plurality of output lines to perform line-switching between the input lines and output lines; a plurality of first serial transmission paths connected to the input lines, respectively; input buffers connected to input-side communication devices and terminals of the first serial transmission paths, respectively, to equalize transmission signals from said input-side communication devices and send the signals to the first serial transmission paths; a plurality of second serial transmission paths connected to the output lines, respectively; output buffers connected to output-side communication devices and terminals of the second serial transmission paths, respectively, to equalize transmission signals from the second serial transmission paths and send the signals to said output-side communication devices; a receiving section inserted between the first serial transmission paths and the input lines to receive the transmission signals from the first serial transmission paths and supply the signals to the input lines; and a transmitting section inserted between the output lines and the second serial transmission paths to receive the transmission signals from the output lines and supply the signals to the second serial transmission paths, wherein said receiving section and said transmitting section comprise an optical receiving section and an optical transmitting section, respectively, and transmission paths of the first and second serial transmission paths, connected to said optical receiving section and said optical transmitting section, comprise optical fiber cables.