Patent ID: 7574078

Claim:
An optical switch comprising: a plurality of input/output ports for receiving one or more wavelength component(s) of an optical signal; and an optical arrangement directing said wavelength component to any given one of the plurality of input/output ports, said given input/output port being variably selectable from among any of the plurality of input/output ports, wherein the optical switch has the ability to use the same one of said plurality of input/output ports as both the input port in which a wavelength component is received and the output port through which it is directed; wherein said optical signal includes a plurality of wavelength components and said optical arrangement further comprises: at least one wavelength selective element selecting one of said wavelength components from among the plurality of wavelength components; and a plurality of optical elements each associated with one of the wavelength selective elements, each of said optical elements directing the selected wavelength component selected by the associated selective element to a given one of the plurality of input/output ports independently of every other wavelength component, said given input/output port being variably selectable from among any of the plurality of input/output ports; a free space region disposed between the input/output ports and the wavelength selective elements, wherein said free space region comprises an optically transparent substrate having first and second parallel surfaces, said plurality of wavelength selective elements being arranged in first and second arrays extending along the first and second parallel surfaces, respectively.