Patent attributes
The invention concerns a switch for optical beams comprising a series of optical input channels (110 . . . 150) and a series of optical output channels (410 . . . 450), two liquid crystal cells respectively adapted to deflect an optical beam coming out of an input channel (110 . . . 150) or arriving onto an output channel (410 . . . 450), said two cells comprising each a series of electrodes adapted to orient liquid crystals when one such electrode is subjected to a supply voltage said electrodes being distributed in zones (210 . . . 250, 310 . . . 350), each zone corresponding to a single input channel (110 . . . 150) or a single output channel (410 . . . 450), the switch further comprising means for supplying the electrodes with selected voltages. The invention is characterised in that it comprises a series of separate electronic circuits, each being connected to at least a different zone (210 . . . 250) of a given cell, said circuits being each capable of transforming a respective control signal indicating a channel to be coupled to the channel of said zone (210 . . . 250, 310 . . . 350) into a series of supply voltages for the electrodes of the zone (210 . . . 250, 310 . . . 350).
