Optoelectronic switch

A switch module for pluggably connecting to an optical interconnecting region, the switch module comprising:

• a plurality M of client facing input ports and a corresponding plurality M of client facing output ports;
• an outgoing optical connection to the interconnecting region and an incoming optical connection to the interconnecting region;
• an array of DRMs each DRM of the array configured to receive optical signal(s) from one of the input ports of the switch module and to regenerate and/or change the wavelength of the received signal(s) to produce respective DRM optical output(s);
• a pre-interconnect AWG, the pre-interconnect AWG acting as a multiplexor to multiplex M inputs to a wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) output signal;
• and
• a post-interconnect AWG configured to route optical signals received at the incoming optical connection of the switch module from the optical interconnecting region to the desired one or more of the client facing output ports.

An optoelectronic switch comprising:

• a plurality N of switch modules;
• and
• an optical backplane which includes a passive fibre shuffle;
• wherein each switch module is connectable to the optical backplane, each switch module comprising:
• a plurality M of client facing input ports, and a corresponding plurality M of client facing output ports;
• an outgoing optical connection to the optical backplane and an incoming optical connection to the optical backplane;
• an plurality of Detector Remodulators (DRMs) each DRM of the plurality configured to receive optical signal(s) from one of the input ports of the switch module and to regenerate and/or change the wavelength of the received signal(s) to produce respective DRM optical output(s);
• a pre-backplane AWG, the pre-backplane AWG acting as a multiplexor to multiplex M inputs to a wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) output signal;
• and
• a post-backplane AWG configured route optical signals received at the incoming optical connection of the switch module from the backplane to the desired one or more of the client facing output ports;
• wherein the optoelectronic switch further comprises a Mach Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) router which receives the WDM output signal from the pre-backplane AWG, and switches the WDM signal before it enters the passive fibre shuffle to choose the required destination switch module;
• the Mach Zehnder Interferometer router being located either:
• on the switch module;
• or
• within the optical backplane, between the switch module and the passive fibre shuffle.