Patent ID: 6970614

Claim:
An optical switching equipment for switching a route of an optical signal received from any one of a plurality of optical transmission routes and outputting said optical signal to any one of a plurality of optical transmission routes, comprising: first interfaces for transmitting or receiving optical signals to or from other optical switching equipment through a plurality of first optical transmission routes; second interfaces for transmitting or receiving optical signals to or from a communicating equipment connected to said optical switching equipment through a plurality of second optical transmission routes; at least one optical switch for providing routes of optical signals between interfaces; and a control circuit for setting the route of each the optical signals inside said at least one optical switch; wherein: each of said second interfaces includes means for splitting a signal received from a second optical transmission route into a plurality of optical signals for output to said optical switch, and means for selecting one of a plurality of optical signals received from said optical switch for output as a selected signal to a second optical transmission route, said control circuit sets a route between first interfaces in said at least one optical switch, and said control circuit sets in said at least one optical switch at least one of: (a) routes outputting the plurality of optical signals split at one of said second interfaces to different first optical transmission routes, and (b) routes leading optical signals from different first optical transmission routes, having been split from an optical signal at a second interface of another optical switching equipment, to one of said selecting and outputting means in a second interface in said optical switching equipment.