Spatial and planar optical circuit for wavelength selective switch applications

We describe a spatial and planar optical circuit (SPOC) platform, on which a waveguide-based optical frontend is incorporated with free-space optics (FSO), and its applications. A SPOC can increase the number of ports and enhance the functionality of wavelength selective switches (WSSs). We describe an ultra-high port count 1 × 95 WSS and an 8 × 24 transponder aggregator (TPA) based on the SPOC.