´Staggering switch´: an ´almost-all´ optical packet switch

An ´almost-all´ optical packet switch architecture is presented, based on two rearrangeably nonblocking stages interconnected by optical delay lines with different amounts of delay. Probability of loss as a function of link use and the size of the switch is investigated. In general, with proper setting of the number of delay lines, the switch can achieve arbitrarily low probability of loss.