Patent ID: 6847757

Claim:
A reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer comprising: a first input terminal for receiving a multi-wavelength optical signal including a to-be-dropped optical signal; a second input terminal for receiving a to-be-added optical signal having a wavelength that is the same as that of the to-be-dropped optical signal; a first output terminal; a second output terminal; an optical device having a reflective region and a filter region and including a first reflector and a filter, wherein the filter is disposed in the filter region and separates the to-be-dropped optical signal from the multi-wavelength optical signal; a switching device for switching the multi-wavelength optical signal and the to-be-added optical signal to one of the reflective region and the filter region, wherein: when traveling to the reflective region, at least one of the multi-wavelength optical signal and the to-be-added optical signal travels to the first reflector, and is reflected to the first output terminal, and the other one of the multi-wavelength optical signal and the to-be-added optical signal is reflected to the second output terminal, and when traveling to the filter region, the multi-wavelength optical signal travels to the filter, the filter separates the to-be-dropped optical signal from the multi-wavelength optical signal, and then the to-be-dropped optical signal is output from one of the first output terminal and the second output terminal, while the multi-wavelength optical signal except for the to-be-dropped optical signal is output, together with the to-be-added optical signal, from the other one of the first output terminal and the second output terminal.