Patent ID: 6868201

Claim:
A reconfigurable optical add drop module having: a coarse demultiplexer, for outputting sub bands of wavelengths, a fine mux/demux, for multiplexing to create at least one sub band and/or demultiplexing at least one of the sub bands, a coarse multiplexer corresponding to the coarse demultiplexer, for remultiplexing at least some of the sub bands, a plurality of optical switches, each on an optical path of a different one of the sub bands between the coarse demultiplexer and the coarse multiplexer, and wherein each of the plurality of switches are arranged to switch the respective sub band either for pass through from the coarse demultiplexer to the coarse multiplexer, or for coupling the respective sub band optical path with said fine mux/demux for adding or dropping at least one of the wavelengths of the respective sub band.