Abstract
A novel configuration is reported for a tunable channel-selection filter that employs an arrayed-waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexer and optical switches. The filter requires only 2(√N – 1) 1 × 2 switch elements to select one of N frequency-division-multiplexed (FDM) channels. A filter for 100 GHz-spaced 16 FDM channels is demonstrated with an AWG 16 × 16 multiplexer and six 1 × 2 switches.