Patent ID: 8724988

Claim:
A synchronous packet switch comprising: a first number of two or more output modules each comprising a second number of two or more optical receivers each configured to receive optical signals at a different one of the second number of two or more wavelengths; the first number of two or more input modules arranged to receive electrical signals carrying data cells to be routed, each of said input modules comprising: the second number of two or more optical transmitters each being operable to generate an optical signal carrying one or more of said data cells, said optical transmitters being configurable such that each of the optical transmitters is operable to generate one of the optical signals at the different one of the second number of two or more wavelengths; and a routing apparatus comprising a plurality of output ports, wherein at least one of the output ports is allocated to each said output module, said routing apparatus being arranged to receive said optical signals at said different wavelengths and being configurable to route each said received optical signal separately to a selected output port; and the said switch further comprising: wherein a third number of two or more optical connections are arranged to couple the output ports to their respective output modules; and a switch control unit arranged to control routing of said optical signals from said optical transmitters to said output modules, and to generate a routing control signal for configuring the routing apparatus to route, for each of the optical transmitters, said optical signal generated from said optical transmitter to a selected one of said output ports, wherein each said routing apparatus comprises a plurality of 1×M optical switches each having one input port and M output ports, each of said optical receivers in said output modules has a different one of said M output ports allocated to it, and each of the optical switches being allocated to a different one of the second number of two or more wavelengths and being configurable to route a received optical signal to a selected one of said M output ports.