METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING AN ELECTRO-OPTICAL SWITCH

A control arrangement for minimizing optical leakage in a time-division, multi-stage electro-optical switch by the periodic adjustment of switching voltage levels. An optical detector connected to an idle port of the switch transmits a leakage signal which represents optical leakage in the switch in various configurations of the switch. The leakage signal is filtered by a low pass filter and sampled at a low rate. A processor stores the sampled data and periodically analyzes the data to determine the appropriate changes in the switching voltage levels for each of the stages of the switch to minimize optical leakage. An output circuit connected to the processor and the switch modifies a previously determined base voltage signals for each of the stages to incorporate the voltage level changes and applies the modified signals to the switch in the appropriate time slots.