Multichannel optical wavelength selective switchwith arrayed-waveguide grating multiplexer

A novel multichannel optical wavelength selective switch is proposed, which can switch arbitrary wavelength signals between multiple channels at high speed. It is based on the combination of an arrayed-waveguide grating multiplexer and an array of optical space-division switches. A 1 × 2 optical wavelength selective switch for two multiplexed signals with a 0.7 nm wavelength spacing is demonstrated using the silica-glass based arrayed-waveguide grating multiplexer and the 1 × 2 laser diode gate switch.