Optical cross-connect
An optical cross-connect (OXC) is a device used by telecommunications carriers to switch high-speed optical signals in a fiber optic network, such as an optical mesh network. In the 1980s, when transmission speeds supported by optical fibers increased from 45 Mbit/s to 2.5 Gbit/s, carrier networks developed and introduced digital cross connects to restore 64 kbit/s, 1.5 Mbit/s, and 45 Mbit/s traffic.