2 x 2 wavelength- selective cross connect capable of switching 128 channels in sets of eight

We present an efficient 2 /spl times/ 2 wavelength-selective cross connect that is serviceable without interrupting traffic. It can handle over a hundred channels in a compact fashion by operating on them in sets. The 50-GHz-spaced passbands are flat-topped with no gaps between them, and so it has high cascadability and can exhibit variable-bandwidth switching. It also can multicast. Index Terms-Cross connect, glass materials/devices, optical phase shifters, waveguide filters, wavelength-division multiplexing.