Patent ID: 7466914

Claim:
An optical switch assembly comprising: a plurality of optoelectronic nodes, wherein each node has a first optical input, a second optical input, and an optical output, wherein each node can be electrically activated or deactivated via an electrical control input, wherein radiation provided to the second optical input is emitted from the optical output as output radiation, wherein the output radiation is modulated according to modulation of radiation provided to the first optical input if the node is electrically activated, and wherein the output radiation is not modulated according to modulation of radiation provided to the first optical input if the node is not electrically activated; wherein the switch includes a plurality of linear chains of the optoelectronic nodes, wherein each of the chains includes two or more nodes optically connected in series such that each pair of adjacent nodes is connected from optical output to second optical input; and wherein the first optical inputs of each of the nodes are isolated from each other.