Optical interferometer for multiplexing optical signals

A method for processing optical signals, comprising:

• receiving a first input signal at an incidence angle;
• receiving a second input signal;
• separating the first input signal into a first beam having a first optical path length and a second beam having a second optical path length, wherein the difference between the first optical path length and the second optical path length is based in part upon the incidence angle of the first input signal;
• separating the second input signal into a third beam and a fourth beam;
• and
• interfering at least a portion of the beams to produce an output signal, wherein the output signal comprises wavelength channels of the first input signal combined with wavelength channels of the second input signal.

An optical system, comprising a multiplexer network operable to multiplex a plurality of input WDM signals into at least one output WDM signal, the multiplexer network comprising:

• a tunable optical element operable to:
• receive a first intermediate input signal at an incidence angle;
• receive a second intermediate input signal;
• separate the first intermediate input signal into a first beam having a first optical path length and a second beam having a second optical path length, wherein the difference between the first optical path length and the second optical path length is based in part upon the incidence angle of the first intermediate input signal;
• and
• separate the second intermediate input signal into a third beam and a fourth beam;
• and
• a reflective element operable to reflect the first beam, the second beam, the third beam, and the fourth beam such that at least a portion of the beams interfere to produce an intermediate output signal, wherein the intermediate output signal comprises wavelength channels of the first intermediate input signal combined with wavelength channels of the second intermediate input signal.