Patent ID: 7145704

Claim:
An optical processing system comprising: an input interface comprising at least a first wavelength division demultiplexer and one or more light sources coupled to the first wavelength division demultiplexer and capable of generating a multiple wavelength optical signal; a switching element coupled to the input interface, wherein the switching element comprises: an optical signal separator operable to separate the multiple wavelength optical signal into one or more optical signal wavelengths; a plurality of semiconductor optical amplifiers located on a single semiconductor substrate, the plurality of semiconductor optical amplifiers operable to perform an optical switching operation on at least one of the optical signal wavelengths; and a controller operable to generate a control signal that affects the optical switching operation performed by one or more of the plurality of semiconductor optical amplifiers; and a node coupled to at least a portion of the switching element, wherein the node comprises a second wavelength division demultiplexer and a receiver coupled to the second wavelength division demultiplexer that is capable of detecting at least a portion of the one or more optical signal wavelengths.