Optical Switch - Terminology

Terminology

The word applies on several levels. In commercial terms (such as "the telecom optical switch market size") it refers to any piece of circuit switching equipment between fibers. The majority of installed systems in this category actually use electronic switching between fiber transponders. Systems that perform this function by routing light beams are often referred to as "photonic" switches, independent of how the light itself is switched. Away from telecom, an optical switch is the unit that actually switches light between fibers, and a photonic switch is one that does this by exploiting nonlinear material properties to steer light (i.e., to switch wavelengths or signals within a given fiber).

Hence a certain portion of the optical switch market is made up of photonic switches. These will contain within them an optical switch, which will, in some cases, be a photonic switch.

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