Patent ID: 8849110

Claim:
A module for routing asynchronously arriving packets of first and second optical signals comprising: first and second inputs configured to receive, respectively, a first optical signal and a second optical signal that is asynchronously received with respect to the first optical signal, the first and second optical signals including packets with destination data; first and second outputs configured to output the first and/or second optical signals; at least one optical switch configured to switch the first optical signal and the second optical signal to one of the first and second outputs; and a correlator module comprising at least two optical correlators, each of the correlators being configured with an expected bit pattern associated with one of the first and second outputs, the correlator module configured to generate control signals to control the optical switch device based on the destination data, wherein each optical correlator of the correlator module is configured to: compare destination data in packets received at one of the first and second inputs to a destination pattern that is the expected bit pattern associated with one of the first and second outputs; and generate a control signal if the destination data matches the expected bit pattern, and the correlator module is configured to generate the control signal such that if packets of the first and second optical signals overlap, the optical switch device is configured to: direct the packet that was received first at the first or second input to the output indicated by the destination data of that packet; and direct the overlapping subsequent packet of the first and second optical signals to the other output or to be blocked.