opaque OXC - technical definition

A digital cross-connect (DXC) employed in an optical system. This approach requires that the optical signal be converted into electrical format before being switched by the electronic DXC, then converted back into optical format before being placed back on the fiber optic transmission system (FOTS). This optical-electrical-optical (OEO) signal conversion process adds some amount of delay to the signal, but offers the advantage of signal regeneration to deal with issues of signal dispersion and attenuation. A transparent OXC is an optical-optical-optical (OOO) device that includes an optical switching module. A translucent OXC is a hybrid that includes both electronic and optical switching modules. See also attenuation, dispersion, DXC, FOTS, OEO, OOO, OXC, translucent OXC, and transparent OXC.