Patent ID: 7016098

Claim:
An optical device for discretionary treatment of channels of an optical beam, said optical device comprising: a port for at least transmitting or receiving a first beam having a plurality of channels; a wavelength discriminating device optically coupled to said port, said wavelength discriminating device adapted for at least one of receiving said first beam and diffracting said beam into a plurality of channel beams or receiving a plurality of channel beams and combining said channel beams into said first beam; and an array of reflective elements in a common plane, said reflective elements exceeding the number of channels, each reflective element being adapted to rotate about at least one axis, and having a first position at which said reflective element is rotated fully in one direction, a second position at which said reflective element is rotated fully in the opposite direction, and one or more intermediate positions between said first and second positions, at least a portion of said reflective elements being optically coupled to said wavelength discriminating device and reflecting said channel beams, at least two adjacent reflective elements of said portion corresponding to a particular channel beam, said at least two adjacent reflective elements being controllable to be positioned in said one or more intermediate positions to effect a desired output of said particular channel beam.