US 6,983,108 B2
Optical switching apparatus and optical transmission apparatus
Mitsuru Sugawara, Kawasaki (Japan); Takashi Yano, Hachioji (Japan); Kyosuke Dobashi, Higashimurayama (Japan); Katsumi Kusama, Chofu (Japan); Sadao Tanikoshi, Hachioji (Japan); Kazuhiko Ide, Yamato (Japan); Mitsuru Otani, Tokyo (Japan); Masayuki Takami, Hachioji (Japan); and Mototaka Kitajima, Tachikawa (Japan)
Assigned to Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo (Japan)
Filed on Oct. 18, 2001, as Appl. No. 9/978,637.
Claims priority of application No. 2000-318486 (JP), filed on Oct. 18, 2000.
Prior Publication US 2002/0044315 A1, Apr. 18, 2002
Int. Cl. H04J 14/00 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 398—45 33 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An optical switching apparatus provided for an optical signal transmitting apparatus connected to a plurality of optical transmission lines, said optical switching apparatus comprising: the function of splitting optical signals arrived via said optical transmission lines into a plurality of sub-signals and sending them to a plurality of optical transmission lines other than the optical transmission lines over which the optical signals came,
wherein
said optical signal transmitting apparatus is provided for a network to which a plurality of optical signal transmitting apparatuses are connected via said optical transmission lines, and
said optical switching apparatus forms Point-to-Point connection paths which connect senders of signals and receivers of signals in a one-to-one correspondence, between the optical signal transmitting apparatus in which said optical switching apparatus is provided and another optical signal transmitting apparatus, and
said optical switching apparatus further comprises:
n×m (n and m are natural numbers) input ports to which optical signals are inputted;
n×m output ports for outputting optical signals;
n×m optical splitting elements for each splitting in half the optical signal inputted from the corresponding one of said input ports; and
an optical matrix switch including 2×n×m input terminals to which the split signals outputted from the optical splitting elements are inputted in a one-to-one correspondence and n×m output terminals connected to said output ports in a one-to-one correspondence.