Telecommunications switches are presented, including expandable optical switches that allow for a switch of N inputs?M outputs to be expanded arbitrarily to a new number of N inputs and/or a new number of M outputs. Switches having internal switch blocks controlling signal bypass lines are also provided, with these switches being useful for the expandable switches.

An example cascaded optical switch includes: a fast optical switch and a slow optical switch both having input ports and output ports. A switching time of the slow switch is longer than a switching time of the fast optical switch. The cascaded optical switch includes a first pre-cabled optical fiber connecting an output port of the slow optical switch to an input ports of the fast optical switch, and a second pre-cabled optical fiber connecting an output ports of the fast optical switch to an input ports of the slow optical switch. The fast optical switch or the slow optical switch is configured to receive configuration data to modify a switching configuration to configure a fiber cross-connect in the optical switch fabric that includes at least one of the first pre-cabled optical fiber or the second pre-cabled optical fiber.

A four-dimensional multiplexing method and four-dimensional multiplexing system are provided for optical networks. The method includes receiving sensor data to be transmitted on an optical network. The method also includes encoding the sensor data into an optical signal employing one or more multiplexing systems. The method additionally includes transmitting the optical signal over the optical network. The method further includes decoding the optical signal into the sensor data employing the one or more multiplexing systems. The method also includes controlling an operation of a processor-based machine responsive to the sensor data.

In certain embodiments, a system includes an optical switch matrix, an optical lens coupled to the switch matrix, and a wireless transmitter coupled to the lens. The switch matrix is configured to switch first optical signals from input ports to output ports of the switch matrix, and output second optical signals that are based at least partially on the first optical signals. The lens is configured to transform wave formats of the second optical signals based on the output ports over which the second optical signals are received. The transmitter includes an antenna array and circuitry coupled to the array. The circuitry is configured to receive the second optical signals from the lens, convert the second optical signals into beamformed wireless signals in accordance with the transformed formats, and transmit the beamformed wireless signals, which signals have spatial characteristics in accordance with the transformed formats, over the array.

A space-division multiplexed optical fiber includes a relatively high refractive index optical core region surrounded by alternating regions of relatively low and relative high refractive index material, forming concentric high index rings around the core. The optical core region supports propagation of light along at least a first radial mode associated with the optical core region and a high index ring region supports propagation of light along at least a second radial mode associated with the high index ring region. The second radial mode is different from the first radial mode.

An optical switching apparatus includes an input port, a dispersion component, a first filter, a redirection component, and output ports. The input port enables a first and a second beam to be incident onto the dispersion component, which decomposes the first and the second beams respectively into a plurality of first and second sub-beams, where the plurality of first sub-beams and second sub-beams belong to different bands. The first filter separates transmission directions of the plurality of first and second sub-beams into different transmission directions in a first direction (X) based on the different bands, enables the plurality of first and second sub-beams respectively to be incident onto a first area and a second area of the redirection component, where the first and second areas are separated in the first direction.

The disclosed systems for multiple data center building optical communication may include (1) a first optical switching node of a first main point of entry (MPOE) of a first data center building that communicatively couples a first fiber pair of a first long-haul path to a computing system of the first building, (2) a second optical switching node of the first MPOE of the first building that communicatively couples a first fiber pair of a second long-haul path to the computing system of the first building, and (3) a third optical switching node of the first MPOE of the first building that communicatively couples the first and second optical switching nodes of the first MPOE of the first building to a second MPOE of the first building and a first MPOE of a second data center building. Various other systems and methods are also disclosed.

An optical device includes a plurality of optical input ports, a plurality of optical output ports, a wavelength dispersion arrangement and at least one optical beam steering arrangement. The plurality of optical input ports is configured to receive optical beams each having a plurality of wavelength components. The wavelength dispersion arrangement receives the optical beams and spatially separates each of the optical beams into a plurality of wavelengths components. The optical beam steering arrangement has a first region onto which the spatially separated wavelength components are directed and a second region onto which any subset of the plurality of wavelength components of each of the optical beams is selectively directed after the wavelength components in each of the subsets are spatially recombined with one another. The optical beam steering arrangement selectively directs each of subset of the plurality of wavelength components to a different one of the optical output ports.

The present invention discloses an optical switching apparatus, an optical cross-connect node, and an optical signal switching method. The optical switching apparatus includes: N input ports, N OAM modulators in a one-to-one correspondence with the N input ports, an OAM splitter, and M output ports, where the M output ports are in a one-to-one correspondence with M OAM modes; a first input port of the input ports is configured to input a first optical signal, a target output port of the first optical signal is a first output port; a first OAM modulator corresponding to the first input port modulates the first optical signal into an optical signal of a first OAM mode corresponding to the first output port; the OAM splitter transmits, to the first output port, the first optical signal received from the first OAM modulator; and the first output port outputs the first optical signal.

The present disclosure describes a network including two levels of switching: a first level including wavelength selective switching via a first type of switching module, and a second level including fiber level switching via a second type of switching module. The two levels of switching allow for maintaining wavelength selective switching between transmission directions while introducing fiber selective switching between network degrees of the same transmission direction. The first type of switching module is configured to transmit and receive optical signals having a first set of wavelengths at a first network degree at a first direction in a node of a network. The second type of switching module is configured to transmit and receive the optical signals from the first type of switching module and route the optical signals at the first network degree to a second network degree in a second direction.