Optical cross-connect architecture using free-space optical switches based on PI-LOSS topology

An optical cross-connect (OXC) system is an essential ingredient needed to create an optical transport network for B-ISDN. We propose an OXC architecture, incorporating failure restoration based on reserved wavelengths, which consists of a routing block and bypass block. We compare the number of required optical devices in our structure with a conventional structure. We also propose a polarization controlled free-space switch based on path-independent insertion loss (PI-LOSS) topology, adopt it to the routing block, and demonstrate a 4/spl times/4 prototype free-space switch.