Patent ID: 7286763

Claim:
An optical apparatus, comprising a plurality of ports having first, second, and third ports, which apparatus is adapted to route optical signals between different ports based on wavelength, wherein: the optical signals correspond to two or more sets of channels, each set having one or more channels with a corresponding bandwidth value; at least two different sets of channels have different bandwidth values; and the optical apparatus comprises a routing device adapted to: route optical signals corresponding to a first group of channels between the first port and the second port; route optical signals corresponding to a second group of channels between the first port and the third port; the first group of channels is a first subset of a first set of channels; the second group of channels includes a second set of channels and a second subset of the first set of channels; channels from the first set occupy a first spectral band, wherein channels from the first subset are interleaved with channels from the second subset; channels from the second set occupy a second spectral band distinct from the first spectral band; and the routing device comprises: a band splitter coupled to the first port and adapted to divide an optical beam applied to the first port into first and second beams, wherein the first beam corresponds to the first spectral band and the second beam corresponds to the second spectral band; a de-interleaver adapted to receive the first optical beam and divide said beam into first and second sub-beams, wherein (i) the first sub-beam corresponds to the first subset and is directed to the second port and (ii) the second sub-beam corresponds to the second subset and is directed to a combiner; and the combiner adapted to combine the second sub-beam with the second beam and direct the combined beam to the third port.