Patent ID: 7103241

Claim:
An optical switching device having a plurality of input ports, and a plurality of output ports, the optical switching device comprising: a plurality of circulators each having four or more ports while operating to output an optical signal, inputted to a higher-order port thereof, to a lower-order port thereof arranged adjacent to the higher-order port, each of the circulators being connected at a highest-order port thereof to an associated one of the input ports, at a lowest-order port thereof to an associated one of the output ports, and at each intermediate port thereof to a corresponding intermediate port of another one of the circulators; and a plurality of reflectors each adapted to reflect an optical signal, inputted thereto, or to allow the optical signal to pass there through, each of the reflectors being connected between two intermediate ports of every two of the circulators connected to each other at the two intermediate ports, wherein an optical signal input to an associated one of the input ports is output to an associated one of the output ports via at least one of the circulators.