All Categories
History
This section provides an overview for optical switches as well as their applications and principles. Also, please take a look at the list of 17 optical switch manufacturers and their company rankings. Here are the top-ranked optical switch companies as of December, 2024: 1.DiCon Fiberoptics, 2.Viavi Solutions, Inc., 3.Lightwave Link.
Table of Contents
Optical switches, also known as optical line switching devices, are devices used in optical communications to branch or alter the destination of a specific signal without converting it from an optical signal to an electrical signal.
Since there is no need to convert optical signals into electrical signals, switching can occur while maintaining the high-speed characteristics of optical communications.
Optical switches can be broadly classified into three types based on the switching method:
1. The mechanical method involves switching the optical path by moving an input/output element or optical element mounted on an electrical actuator.
2. The MEMS method switches by controlling the position of a minute optical element using a weak force such as static electricity. It switches by reflecting light from two mirrors. MEMS switches can be integrated into a small size and operate at high speeds, making them suitable for multi-channel switching. Although the device must be constantly energized, it is possible to reduce power consumption because the power required to operate each element is also small.
3. The bending method switches by placing heaters on both sides of the optical waveguide on a substrate. This heats one side of the heater to create a temperature difference between the left and right sides of the waveguide. The optical waveguide method changes the refractive index in the waveguide by creating a temperature difference between the left and right sides, thereby altering the light propagation path.
Optical switches are utilized in devices that control optical paths and manage light in optical communications, which are now essential for high-speed communications.
When optical communications are converted to electrical signals before switching, the time required from conversion to switching becomes a bottleneck. Optical switches were developed to address this issue by performing switching using light.
Optical switches continuously provide a stable optical access environment by switching to alternative paths when one optical path becomes unavailable due to device failure or other reasons.
The mechanical method has a straightforward structure, and switching is achieved by sliding optical elements such as prisms. The control system is user-friendly, and losses are minimal.
The MEMS method is an optical switch that uses micro-mirrors, which can be fabricated with advancements in microfabrication technology. It switches by reflecting light from two mirrors. MEMS switches can be integrated into a small size and operate at high speeds, making them suitable for multi-channel switching. Although the device must be constantly energized, it is possible to reduce power consumption because the power required to operate each element is also small.
The optical waveguide type is realized using lightwave circuit technology, which creates an optical waveguide on a flat surface. It changes the optical path by altering the refractive index or using external inputs such as heat, light, or electricity. Although it incurs some loss, it can stack planar surfaces and is characterized by its compact size and ease of integration.
*Including some distributors, etc.
Sort by Features
Sort by Area
Viavi Solutions, Inc. is based in Arizona, USA, and is a manufacturer of network testing and measurement products that was established in 2015 following the split of the JDS Uniphase Corporation into Viavi Solutions and Lumentum Holdings. The company produces wireless network optimization or testing tools, optical fiber inspection tools, and network performance troubleshooting software. It also offers cloud-native software platforms for automation, inventory, and quality assurance applications. The company’s products are used mainly by clients in the telecom, data center, and IT industries.
DiCon Fiberoptics, founded in Richmond, California, in 1986 is a manufacturer of fiber optic components and switching solutions. The company's product portfolio includes Fiber Optic Cables, optical transceivers for data centers, telecommunications, and networking applications, optical switches that enable efficient routing of optical signals, passive components like couplers, splitters, and attenuators and Fiber Optic Test Equipment. The company serves markets including Medical and Healthcare, Aerospace and Defense, Consumer Goods, Industrial Manufacturing and Information Technology.
Clairex Semiconductor, established in 2017, and located in Plano, Texas, is a manufacturer that specializes in design and produces optoelectronic components. The company offers a range of products related to optoelectronics, including IREDs, LEDs, photodiodes, and phototransistors. It also offers both custom-designed and standard optoelectronic components. Its products emit radiation from the junction at wavelengths dependent on the bandgap energy of the dopants used in the processing. Its products are suitable for use in commercial, medical, and military.
HUBER+SUHNER, a company founded in 1864 and headquartered in Herisau, Switzerland, is a manufacturer and supplier of connectivity solutions. The company specializes in providing products for the communication, transportation, and industrial markets. Their extensive range includes fiber optics, radio frequency, and low-frequency cables, connectors, and antennas. Their products are used in telecommunications, data centers, transportation systems, aerospace, and defense industries. The company also provides customer support and service to meet the diverse needs of its clients.
Accelink Technologies Co. Ltd., established in 1976 and headquartered in Wuhan, China, is a manufacturer of optoelectronic devices and modules. The company excels in researching, developing, and selling optoelectronic chips, devices, and subsystem products. Its product portfolio includes optical transceivers, amplifiers, and wavelength management modules catering to sectors such as optical transport networks, cloud enterprises, and wireless communication. In 2009, it was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and consistently ranks in the "Top 10 Most Competitive Global Optical Device Companies" and is 4th in the global optical communication device industry.
EXFO is a Quebec, Canada-based developer and manufacturer of analytics solutions for network equipment manufacturers, communications service providers, and data centers. Originally founded in 1985, the company provides solutions for clients to more easily transition to 5G, fiber optic, and cloud-native networking. The company's specialized product lineup includes lab and manufacturing testing equipment such as bit error rate testers (BERTs), waveform generators, and optical modulation analyzers, as well as field network testing tools like fiber inspection probes and optical power meters (OPMs). These supply clients like Nokia, Facebook, and the U.S. Department of Defense.
Zhongshan Meisu Technology Co., Ltd was founded in 2014 and is based in Guang Dong, China, and is a manufacturer of fiber array sub-assembly systems for various industrial applications. The company provides 2D & linear fiber arrays, PM fiber components, HT fiber devices, fiber optical switches, and, special fiber components as well as offers silicon photonics devices, optical communication systems, multicore fiber solutions, optical transceivers, and, lensed fiber products for optical communication, biological &chemical sensing, data transmission, signal processing, and laser imaging arenas.
Shenzhen OPTICO Communication Co., Ltd was established in April 2008, in China as a manufacturer of optical products. The company has a wide range of optical active and passive products which includes Polarization Maintaining 5G Series, Patch Cords that are available in various transmission modes, optical cable types, and connector types. There are also Fiber pigtails, jumpers, adapters, connectors, and cables along with other related products such as splitters, terminal boxes, Optical chips and etc. which have extensive use in the 4G/5G, Data Centers, Telecom, and Cloud Computing industry.
Guangzhou Ruid Ele-tech CO., LTD was established in 1995 and is based in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, and is a manufacturer of optic fiber products for various industrial applications. The company has ISO9001certifications & CE, RoHS, and SGS accreditations and offers passive components, optical transceivers, optical amplifiers, fiber optical switches, and, network switches as well as network optical taps, optical cables, video transmission systems, and, optical accessories for datacom, electronics, networking, Metro, and the Internet communication sectors. The company also provides customized design, installation, training, lifetime maintenance service, and technical support for customers.
Lightwave Link, located in Hsinchu, Taiwan, is a manufacturer of optical switch devices and modules. The company was founded in 1996. The company's main products include optical switches, optical bypass modules, optical line protection modules, and optical application modules. These products optimize network performance and provide efficient optical connectivity for various applications, such as in telecommunications, data centers, and enterprise networks. The company fully complies with all the requirements of ISO9001:2015 standards in the design, manufacture, and sales service of their optical switch devices and modules.
Shenzhen htfuture Co., Ltd is a fiber optic products and WDM systematic solution manufacturer founded in Shenzhen, China in 2015. The company specializes in multiplexers, transceivers, patch cords and converters. Its products are used in industries, such as telecommunication, roadway safety, cloud computing and data centers. Its goods are used on a worldwide scale, but the manufacturer's main markets are China, Western Europe, South America and Southeast Asia. The firm is ISO 9001:2015 certified and holds multiple other certificates of compliance.
Kemove, based in Shenzhen, China, is a manufacturer and supplier of Mechanical keyboards, and associated accessories for various industrial sectors. The company website offers keyboards with 12 months warranty and provides them in different models namely KEYMOVE series, DIERYA series, and, TMKB series, as well as offers PBT material keycaps, keyboard software, multi mac connectivity for connecting the keyboard to up to 3 devices via Bluetooth, along with hot-swappable switches for software programming, book publishing, education, research & universities, and, information technology sectors.
SHENZHEN OPELINK TECHNOLOGY Co., Ltd was founded in 2013 and based in Shenzhen, China, and is a manufacturer and supplier of passive & active fiber optic components and equipment for various industrial applications. The company provides optical passive products, optical active products, grinding materials & equipment, fixtures & tools, and fiber splitters as well as fiber optic polishing machines & cleaner pens, patch cords, fiber cables, optical circulators and isolators, and, optical transmitters & switches that have applications in electronics device manufacturing, photonics, data transmission, signal processing, and, digital communication sectors.
Gezhi Photonics Co., Ltd, a company established in 2014, based in Shenzhen, China, is a manufacturer and supplier of fiber optical products and solutions. The company provides various products such as WDM series (DWDM, AAWG, CWDM, CCWDM, FWDM), optical switches (mechanical series, MEMS series, magnet series), optical circulator/isolator, patch cable series (MPO, MTRJ, SMA, FC, SC, LC, ST etc.), polarization maintaining and high-power components, and optical transceiver (400G QSFP-DD, 100G QSFP28, 40G QSFP28, 40G QSFP+, 25G QSFP+, 25G SFP28, 10G DWDM/CWDM, 10G SFP+, 1G SFP). These products are widely applied in data center, telecom, CATV, FTTX, and fiber sensor.
Lfiber Optic Limited, based in Shenzhen, China, is a manufacturer and supplier of optical components, fiber optic modules, and,micro-optic devices for various industries. The company provides fused fiber couplers, fiber optic isolators, circulators, switches, and, CWDM modules that have applications in light transmission, switching & amplification, user technology, and aerospace industries. The company specializes in the fields of light transmission, switching, and amplification and offers fiber patch cords, in-line polarizers, single-mode fiber collimators, multimode PLC splitters, and, laser speckle reducers for photonics detection and sensing sectors
Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. is an ISO 45001-certified manufacturer of optical fiber and electrical wire cables that was established in Osaka, Japan, in 1897. The company produces optical fiber products for data communication or telecom applications, wire cable products for power transmission and automotive electronics, and flexible printed circuits for electronic device assembly. It also offers compound semiconductors for use in optical and wireless communication. The company’s products are commonly used by clients in the aerospace, telecommunications, and consumer electronics industries.
Ranking as of December 2024
Derivation Method| Rank | Company | Click Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DiCon Fiberoptics |
15.9%
|
| 2 | Lightwave Link |
11.0%
|
| 3 | Viavi Solutions, Inc. |
11.0%
|
| 4 | Clairex Technologies, Inc. |
10.7%
|
| 5 | HUBER+SUHNER |
7.6%
|
| 6 | EXFO |
6.6%
|
| 7 | Shenzhen OPTICO Communication Co.,Ltd |
5.5%
|
| 8 | Zhongshan Meisu Technology Co.,Ltd. |
5.2%
|
| 9 | Guangzhou Ruid Ele-tech CO., LTD |
3.4%
|
| 10 | Gezhi Photonics Co., Ltd |
3.4%
|
Derivation Method
The ranking is calculated based on the click share within the optical switch page as of December 2024. Click share is defined as the total number of clicks for all companies during the period divided by the number of clicks for each company.Number of Employees
Newly Established Company
Company with a History
*Including some distributors, etc.
*Including some distributors, etc.
| Country | Number of Companies | Share (%) |
|---|---|---|
|
China
|
9 | 60.0% |
|
United States of America
|
3 | 20.0% |
|
Switzerland
|
1 | 6.7% |
|
Canada
|
1 | 6.7% |
|
Taiwan
|
1 | 6.7% |
27 products found
27 products
Connection Technology Systems Co., Ltd.
500+ people viewing
Last viewed: 12 hours ago
As Layer 2 switches for construction of a fiber network equipped with abundant management functions, we implement 10 giga and 1 giga -up link and u...
7 models listed
Connection Technology Systems Co., Ltd.
270+ people viewing
Last viewed: 1 day ago
■ 10g Equipped with a 10G data transmission function, it is designed to satisfy the high -band width width, which is essential for both conventiona...
2 models listed
Connection Technology Systems Co., Ltd.
210+ people viewing
Last viewed: 1 day ago
Gigabit Ethernet switch with a small port designed for SME (Small Medium-Size Enterprise). A model that supports various transmission distance so t...
Connection Technology Systems Co., Ltd.
290+ people viewing
Last viewed: 13 hours ago
■ Desktop switch with two layers and security functions ・ Fanless design ・ Equipped with management functions such as loop detection function and...
2 models listed
Inter Energy Co., Ltd.
80+ people viewing
Last viewed: 6 hours ago
■Light-related measuring instruments Light-related measuring instruments designed for research and development with cost performance in mind. This ...
Kaiko Electric Co., Ltd.
30+ people viewing
Last viewed: 16 hours ago
Standard Response
■Optical fiber aggregation switch for building fiber networks ・1000BASE-X/10GBASE-R compatible SFP+ slot x 4 ports ・100/1000BASE-X compatible SFP...
Kaiko Electric Co., Ltd.
30+ people viewing
Last viewed: 5 hours ago
Standard Response
■Optical fiber aggregation switch for building fiber networks ・1000BASE-X/10GBASE-R compatible SFP+ slot x 4 ports ・100/1000BASE-X compatible SFP...
Optoscience Co., Ltd.
30+ people viewing
Last viewed: 10 hours ago
Standard Response
A highly reliable MEMS switch jointly developed with DiCon Fiberoptics. We offer both MxN matrix switches and 1xN array switches. ■Features ・High...
Kaiko Electric Co., Ltd.
40+ people viewing
Last viewed: 1 day ago
Standard Response
■Optical fiber aggregation switch for building fiber networks ・1000BASE-X/10GBASE-R compatible SFP+ slot x 4 ports ・100/1000BASE-X compatible SFP...
Kaiko Electric Co., Ltd.
40+ people viewing
Standard Response
■Optical fiber aggregation switch for building fiber networks ・1000BASE-X/10GBASE-R compatible SFP+ slot x 4 ports ・100/1000BASE-X compatible SFP...
Kaiko Electric Co., Ltd.
30+ people viewing
Last viewed: 9 hours ago
Standard Response
■Optical fiber aggregation switch for building fiber networks ・1000BASE-X/10GBASE-R compatible SFP+ slot x 4 ports ・100/1000BASE-X compatible SFP...
Kaiko Electric Co., Ltd.
30+ people viewing
Last viewed: 9 hours ago
Standard Response
■Optical fiber aggregation switch for building fiber networks ・1000BASE-X/10GBASE-R compatible SFP+ slot x 4 ports ・100/1000BASE-X compatible SFP...
Kaiko Electric Co., Ltd.
40+ people viewing
Last viewed: 18 hours ago
Standard Response
■Optical fiber aggregation switch for building fiber networks ・1000BASE-X/10GBASE-R compatible SFP+ slot x 4 ports ・100/1000BASE-X compatible SFP...
Kaiko Electric Co., Ltd.
30+ people viewing
Last viewed: 20 hours ago
Standard Response
■Optical fiber aggregation switch for building fiber networks ・1000BASE-X/10GBASE-R compatible SFP+ slot x 4 ports ・100/1000BASE-X compatible SFP...
Kaiko Electric Co., Ltd.
40+ people viewing
Standard Response
■Optical fiber aggregation switch for building fiber networks ・1000BASE-X/10GBASE-R compatible SFP+ slot x 4 ports ・100/1000BASE-X compatible SFP...
Kaiko Electric Co., Ltd.
30+ people viewing
Last viewed: 10 hours ago
Standard Response
■Optical fiber aggregation switch for building fiber networks ・1000BASE-X/10GBASE-R compatible SFP+ slot x 4 ports ・100/1000BASE-X compatible SFP...
Seven Six Co., Ltd.
90+ people viewing
Last viewed: 1 day ago
■Summary By using a piezo actuator to directly couple the beam to the output fiber, the optical switch has a structure that minimizes loss and is r...
Main Technology Co., Ltd.
20+ people viewing
■Summary The RTU-4000 platform is a remote test unit developed to maintain fiber optic networks. By installing the RTU-4100+ optical test module, w...
10+ people viewing
Last viewed: 7 hours ago
■Application ・Optical signal switching independent from data rate and data protocol ・Network protection, restoration and performance monitoring ...
