Patent ID: 8036527

Claim:
An apparatus for protection switching of an optical channel, which is provided to each node in an optical network based on wavelength division multiplexing optical transmission technology, the apparatus comprising: a splitter receiving an electrical signal and splitting the received electrical signal into a plurality of electrical signals which are substantially identical to the received electrical signal; an output switching unit selecting output paths of the electrical signals split by the splitter according to an optical channel path control command of the optical network; and a plurality of optical transponders being assigned to the respective output paths of the electrical signals, converting the electrical signal input by the selection of the output switching unit to an optical signal, and transmitting the converted optical signal to another node of the optical network, wherein the optical channel path control command comprises information on a working fiber and a protection fiber between a source node and a destination node so that the electrical signals split by the splitter are output to the optical transponders, which are connected to the working fiber and the protection fiber, respectively.