Multistage optical system for broadcasting and switching information.

Conventional switching systems connect each input channel to one output channel. Broadcasting systems permit the connection of each input channel to more than a single output. A broadcast 2 x 2 switch is presented.

Compact polarization-based all-optical interconnection systems with growth capability.

All-optical communication requires all-optical interconnections, thus leading to reliable, fast, and flexible modular communication means in future systems. Free-space approaches are advantageous since they fully use the two dimensions optics offer. A folded architecture based on a polarization code is proposed for dynamic optical interconnection.