Hybrid wavelength selective optical router and switch

An optical switch comprising:

• a hybrid input flashlight assembly (100) including
• an input port configured to receive an input optical signal containing a plurality of optical channels,
• a collimator disposed between the input port and
• a wavelength selective filter, the wavelength selective filter being disposed to optically couple at least one selected channel from the plurality of optical channels along a selected beam (205) and to optically couple a remainder of the plurality of optical channels to
• an express port;
• a mirror (206) capable of selectively directing the selected beam to one of
• a first output port (212) and
• a second output port (210), wherein the selected beam optically couples to the first output port (216) from the mirror when the optical switch is in a first switch position placing the mirror in the selected beam without further beam direction, and optically couples to the second output port (210) directly from the hybrid flashlight assembly without further beam direction when the switch is in a second position removing the mirror from the selected beam.

An optical ADD/DROP router comprising:

• a hybrid input flashlight assembly (300) including
• an input port configured to receive an input optical signal containing a plurality of optical channels,
• a collimator disposed between the input port and
• a wavelength selective filter, the wavelength selective filter being disposed to optically couple at least a selected channel from the plurality of optical channels along a selected beam (306) and to optically couple a remainder of the plurality of optical channels to
• an express port;
• a mirror (308) having a first reflective surface (307) and a second reflective surface (309) capable, in a first switch position, of directing the selected beam by reflection off of the first reflective surface to a DROP port (322) and directing an ADD beam (314) to a hybrid output flashlight assembly (326) by reflection off of the second reflective surface, and, in a second switch position, of optically coupling the selected beam directly to the hybrid output flashlight assembly without reflection off of the mirror.

An optical ADD/DROP router comprising:

• a hybrid input flashlight assembly (300) including
• an input port configured to receive an input optical signal containing a plurality of optical channels,
• a collimator disposed between the input port and
• a first wavelength selective filter, the first wavelength selective filter being disposed to optically couple at least a selected channel from the plurality of optical channels along a selected beam (306) and to optically couple a remainder of the plurality of optical channels to
• an express port;
• a mirror (308) having a first reflective surface (307) and a second reflective surface (309) capable, in a first switch position, of directing the selected beam by reflection off of the first reflective surface to a DROP port (322) and directing an ADD beam (314) to
• a hybrid output flashlight assembly (326) by reflection off of the second reflective surface, and, in a second switch position, of optically coupling the selected beam directly to the hybrid output flashlight assembly without reflection off of the mirror, the hybrid output flashlight assembly including
• a common port,
• an output port,
• a second collimator, and
• a second wavelength selective filter, the second wavelength selective filter being capable of transmitting either of the selected beam and the ADD beam to the output port, and reflecting a common signal present at the common port to the output port.

A process for routing a selected optical channel from a multi-channel optical input, the process comprising steps of:

• providing a multi-channel input signal at an input port;
• expanding the multi-channel input signal in a collimator to form a multi-channel optical beam;
• directing the multi-channel optical beam at a wavelength selective input filter to transmit a selected channel beam and to reflect a remaining channel portion of the multi-channel optical beam;
• focusing the remaining channel portion to optically couple to an express port;
• directing the selected channel beam at an optical switching element that further directs the selected channel beam to a second collimator that focuses the selected channel beam to optically couple to a first output port;
• and
• switching the optical switching element to directly couple the selected channel beam to a third collimator that focuses the selected channel beam to optically couple to a second output port.

A hybrid wavelength selective router comprising:

• an input port configured to receive an optical signal containing a plurality of optical channels;
• a collimator (112) optically coupled to the input port in a hybrid assembly (100);
• and
• a bandpass filter (116) optically coupled to the collimator in the hybrid assembly, the bandpass filter being disposed to transmit a selected portion of the optical signal through free space along an optical beam path and to reflect a remaining portion of the optical signal back through the collimator to
• an output port wherein the bandpass filter transmits a plurality of adjacent optical channels.

A hybrid wavelength selective router comprising:

• an input port configured to receive an optical signal containing a plurality of optical channels;
• a collimator (112) optically coupled to the input port in a hybrid assembly (100);
• and
• a bandpass filter (116) optically coupled to the collimator in the hybrid assembly, the bandpass filter being disposed to transmit a selected portion of the optical signal through free space along an optical beam path and to reflect a remaining portion of the optical signal back through the collimator to
• an output port wherein the optical beam path forms an angle of incidence with the bandpass filter of less than 3 degrees from normal.

A hybrid wavelength selective router comprising:

• an input port configured to receive an optical signal containing a plurality of optical channels;
• a collimator (112) optically coupled to the input port in a hybrid assembly (100);
• and
• a bandpass filter (116) optically coupled to the collimator in the hybrid assembly, the bandpass filter being disposed to transmit a plurality of adjacent optical channels of the optical signal through free space as an optical beam, the optical beam forming an angle of incidence of less than 3 degrees from normal with the bandpass filter, and to reflect a remaining portion of the optical signal back through the collimator to
• an output port.