Pluggable fiber loopback apparatus and methods for fiber optical systems
First Claim
1. A loopback apparatus for use with a fiber optical system, comprising:
- at least one input optical fiber having input and output ends;
at least one output optical fiber having input and output ends;
an optical system that defines an optical path and that is configured to optically couple the output end of the at least one input optical fiber with the input end of the at least one output optical fiber over the optical path;
a thin-film filter (TFF) disposed in the optical path and configured to provide a select amount of optical attenuation of at least 1 dB for light traveling over the optical path; and
an adapter having a first end and a second end, the first end attached to the input end of the at least one input optical fiber and the output end of the at least one output optical fiber, the second end configured to receive at least one transmit optical fiber and at least one receive optical fiber to place the at least one transmit optical fiber in optical communication with the at least one input optical fiber and to place the at least one receive optical fiber in optical communication with the at least one output optical fiber such that an optical signal from the at least one transmit optical fiber is attenuated by the TFF and propagated to the at least one receive optical fiber.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
The loopback apparatus disclosed herein is used with an optical fiber system having an optical fiber cable. The loopback apparatus includes an optical fiber having input and output ends and an output optical fiber having input and output ends. The loopback apparatus also includes an optical system that defines an optical path and that is configured to optically couple the output end of the input optical fiber with the input end of the output optical fiber over the optical path. The loopback apparatus also includes a thin-film filter disposed in the optical path and configured to provide a select amount of attenuation for light traveling over the optical path. The loopback apparatus can be plugged into and unplugged from the optical fiber cable. Loopback methods for measuring the performance of the optical fiber system using the loopback apparatus are also disclosed.
16 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A loopback apparatus for use with a fiber optical system, comprising:
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at least one input optical fiber having input and output ends; at least one output optical fiber having input and output ends; an optical system that defines an optical path and that is configured to optically couple the output end of the at least one input optical fiber with the input end of the at least one output optical fiber over the optical path; a thin-film filter (TFF) disposed in the optical path and configured to provide a select amount of optical attenuation of at least 1 dB for light traveling over the optical path; and an adapter having a first end and a second end, the first end attached to the input end of the at least one input optical fiber and the output end of the at least one output optical fiber, the second end configured to receive at least one transmit optical fiber and at least one receive optical fiber to place the at least one transmit optical fiber in optical communication with the at least one input optical fiber and to place the at least one receive optical fiber in optical communication with the at least one output optical fiber such that an optical signal from the at least one transmit optical fiber is attenuated by the TFF and propagated to the at least one receive optical fiber. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 23)
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10. A fiber optical system, comprising:
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optical equipment having a transmitter and a receiver; an optical fiber cable that includes at least one transmit optical fiber optically coupled to the transmitter and at least one receive optical fiber optically coupled to the receiver; a loopback apparatus comprising; at least one input optical fiber optically coupled to the at least one transmit optical fiber; at least one output optical fiber optically coupled to the at least one receive optical fiber; an optical system configured to optically couple the at least one input optical fiber to the at least one output optical fiber over an optical path; a thin-film filter (TFF) operably disposed in the optical path and configured to provide a select amount of optical attenuation of at least 1 dB; and adapter having a first end and a second end, the first end attached to an input end of the at least one input optical fiber and an output end of the at least one output optical fiber, the second end attached to the at least one transmit optical fiber and the at least one receive optical fiber, the at least one transmit optical fiber in optical communication with the at least one input optical fiber, and the at least one receive optical fiber in optical communication with the at least one output optical fiber such that an optical signal from the at least one transmit optical fiber is attenuated by the TFF and propagated to the at least one receive optical fiber. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of evaluating a performance of a fiber optical system that includes optical equipment and an optical fiber cable that supports at least one transmit optical fiber and at least one receive optical fiber, comprising:
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transmitting, from a transmitter in the optical equipment, optical signals over the at least one transmit optical fiber to an input end of at least one input optical fiber of a loopback apparatus attached to a first end of an adapter of the loopback apparatus, the at least one transmit optical fiber attached to a second end of the adapter; sending the optical signals from the at least one input optical fiber to at least one output optical fiber of the loopback apparatus over an optical path, including directing the optical signals to a thin-film filter (TFF) that resides in the optical path and that is configured to perform filtering of the optical signals to form filtered optical signals with optical attenuation of at least 1 dB; directing the filtered optical signals from an output end of the at least one output optical fiber attached to the first end of the adapter to the at least one receive optical fiber of the optical fiber cable attached to the second end of the adapter and then to at least one receiver in the optical equipment; and converting the filtered optical signals received by the at least one receiver to electrical signals and then processing the electrical signals. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification