Patent ID: 8611742

Claim:
A wavelength switch system for dynamic switching of multi-channel optical signals having spectral channels of different wavelengths, comprising: a) a plurality of collimator elements for optical signals having one or more of said spectral channels, each collimator element having two or more separate optical paths for optical ports configured to receive and transmit two or more corresponding independent optical signals at a time, whereby each collimator element accommodates two or more optical ports, whereby there are a plurality of ports that includes two or more corresponding distinct groups of optical ports; b) a wavelength separator configured to separate multi-channel optical signal from a given port in the plurality of ports into a corresponding group of constituent spectral channels; c) relay optics optically coupled between the plurality of collimator elements and the wavelength separator, wherein the relay optics are configured to direct optical signals originating from different ports in a given collimator element towards a common point on the wavelength separator but at different angles; and d) two or more independent arrays of channel deflection elements optically coupled to the wavelength separator, wherein each array of channel deflection elements is configured to selectively direct a group of spectral channels corresponding to one of the two or more optical signals originating from a given port in a given group of the two or more distinct groups of optical ports toward a different one or more selected ports in the given group of optical ports.