
N N switches. All the channels can flow though a single large switching fabric
(>100 100 ports, such as the 3D MEMS crossconnect) [94, 95]. An alternative
approach is to use a smaller switch (8 8or1616 ports, such as the MEMS 2D
switch) for each wavelength [19, 24]. In both cases, some of the ports of the
transparent switching fabric can be connected to a conventional OEO router to enable
higher level network functionality, such as packet switching, for a limited number of
channels. A more power efficient approach to WSXC is to integrate wavelength
multiplexing and MEMS multiport switching. This can be realized in a single
monolithic component