Patent ID: 8670669

Claim:
A system comprising: a patch panel having a plurality of ports that are connected to each other and that are configured to receive a plurality of optical signals and to provide a signal path for the optical signals to allow the optical signals to travel from a first of the plurality of ports to a second of the plurality of ports; at least one add/drop block connected to a first particular patch panel port, wherein the add/drop block is configured to: add electrical signals that are received from one or more clients of the system; translate the added electrical signals to a first plurality of wavelength signals for transport to the first particular patch panel port; send the translated added signals to the first particular patch panel port when a network link is broken such that the translated added signals are not limited to a particular direction or a particular wavelength; drop a second plurality wavelength signals from the system that are received from the first particular patch port; translate the dropped wavelength signals to electrical signals to be transported to the one or more clients; and send the translated dropped signals to the one or more clients of the system such that the translated dropped signals are not limited to a particular direction or a particular wavelength; and a plurality of direction blocks connected to the plurality of ports, wherein each of the direction blocks are configured to receive the first and second plurality of wavelength signals from ports of other direction blocks and the add/drop block, and wherein each of the direction blocks are configured to send the first and second plurality of wavelength signals in a plurality of directions from the plurality of ports.