Dynamic, flexible and programmable network nodes will enable the key infrastructure for the Future Internet. Reengineering of the traditional router architectures is required in order to allow hardware- and vendor-independent routing functions and to design open and cost-effective service platforms. This paper presents a modular programmable router architecture to support multi-granular routing based on optical switching matrices, according to recent IETF standards. A possible implementation of the proposed concepts is demonstrated using a software-based optical router emulator, which integrates optical packet and circuit switching paradigms. The emulator is designed as a test platform to prove the feasibility of different subsystems and their interoperability.