Optical switch device
First Claim
1. An optical switch device comprising:
- N (N is a natural number larger than or equal to
2) multiplexers each of which multiplexes light beams with at most M (M is a natural number larger than or equal to
2) different wavelengths and outputs a multiplexed light beam;
N optical splitters each of which splits the multiplexed light beam from a corresponding one of the N multiplexers into MN split light beams;
MN N×
1 optical switches each of which selects, from among the split light beams from the N optical splitters, a split light beam corresponding to one multiplexer among the N multiplexers; and
MN tunable filters each of which selects a light beam with any one wavelength from among the light beams with the at most M different wavelengths multiplexed by the one multiplexer selected by a corresponding one of the MN N×
1 optical switches,wherein the N optical splitters are each configured by combining an optical splitter and a plurality of wavelength selective switches or a wavelength selective switch and a plurality of optical splitters.
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Abstract
A wavelength routing SW is a large-scale optical switch device of a conventional technique, and it requires as many wavelength-tunable light sources as the number of input ports. For the wavelength-tunable light sources to achieve a stable oscillating operation across a wide wavelength range, a complicated control mechanism is necessary. This has been an obstacle in providing a large-scale optical switch device in terms of cost and circuit scale. A wavelength routing SW in the present disclosure includes N wavelength group generators, a splitting-selection unit, and MN tunable filters. Each wavelength group generator includes M fixed-wavelength light sources. Inexpensive general-purpose devices that require no control mechanism for wavelength tuning can be used as the fixed-wavelength light source. The channel loss in the optical switch device can also be reduced by using light sources with a limited narrow range of tunable wavelengths and the wavelength-dependent output port selecting function of an AWG.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. An optical switch device comprising:
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N (N is a natural number larger than or equal to
2) multiplexers each of which multiplexes light beams with at most M (M is a natural number larger than or equal to
2) different wavelengths and outputs a multiplexed light beam;N optical splitters each of which splits the multiplexed light beam from a corresponding one of the N multiplexers into MN split light beams; MN N×
1 optical switches each of which selects, from among the split light beams from the N optical splitters, a split light beam corresponding to one multiplexer among the N multiplexers; andMN tunable filters each of which selects a light beam with any one wavelength from among the light beams with the at most M different wavelengths multiplexed by the one multiplexer selected by a corresponding one of the MN N×
1 optical switches,wherein the N optical splitters are each configured by combining an optical splitter and a plurality of wavelength selective switches or a wavelength selective switch and a plurality of optical splitters. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. An optical switch device comprising:
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N (N is a natural number larger than or equal to
2) multiplexers each of which multiplexes light beams with at most M (M is a natural number larger than or equal to
2) different wavelengths and outputs a multiplexed light beam;N optical splitters each of which splits the multiplexed light beam from a corresponding one of the N multiplexers into K split light beams, where K is such a natural number that MN/K is a natural number; K N×
(MN/K) delivery and coupling (DC) switches each of which selects, from among the split light beams from the N optical splitters, a split light beam corresponding to one multiplexer among the N multiplexers, the DC switches each including N 1×
(MN/K) optical splitters to which outputs from the N optical splitters are connected, and (MN/K) N×
1 optical switches which are connected to output ports of each of the N 1×
(MN/K) optical splitters; andMN tunable filters each of which selects a light beam with any one wavelength from among the light beams with the at most M different wavelengths multiplexed by the one multiplexer selected by a corresponding one of the N×
1 optical switches. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An optical switch device comprising:
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N (N is a natural number larger than or equal to
2) multiplexers each of which multiplexes light beams with at most M (M is a natural number larger than or equal to
2) different wavelengths and outputs a multiplexed light beam;N optical splitters each of which splits the multiplexed light beam from a corresponding one of the N multiplexers into Y split light beams, where Y is a smallest natural number satisfying MN/K Y, and K is such a natural number that MN/K is a natural number; Y N×
K delivery and coupling (DC) switches each of which selects, from among the split light beams from the N optical splitters, a split light beam corresponding to one multiplexer among the N multiplexers, the DC switches each including N 1×
K optical splitters to which outputs from the N optical splitters are connected, and K N×
1 optical switches which are connected to output ports of each of the N 1×
K optical splitters; andMN tunable filters each of which selects a light beam with any one wavelength from among the light beams with the at most M different wavelengths multiplexed by the one multiplexer selected by a corresponding one of the N×
1 optical switches. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An optical switch device comprising:
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N (N is a natural number larger than or equal to
2) M-input L-output multiplexers each of which multiplexes light beams with at most M (M is a natural number larger than or equal to
2) different wavelengths and outputs a multiplexed light beam, each of the light beams with the at most M different wavelengths is a light beam with one wavelength selected from different wavelength groups each including L (L is a natural number satisfying M≥
L) types of wavelengths, MN/L is a natural number;L N-input wavelength splitting-selection units to each of which corresponding N output ports among sets of L output ports of the N multiplexers are connected and the multiplexed light beams are input from the corresponding N output ports, the N-input wavelength splitting-selection units each including; N optical splitters which are respectively connected to the N inputs of the wavelength splitting-selection unit and each split the multiplexed light beam from a corresponding one of the N multiplexers into MN/L split light beams, and MN/L N×
1 optical switches each of which selects, from among the split light beams from the N optical splitters, a split light beam corresponding to one multiplexer among the N multiplexers; andMN/L tunable filters each of which selects a light beam with any one wavelength from among the light beams with the different wavelengths multiplexed by the one multiplexer selected by a corresponding one of the MN/L N×
1 optical switches. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification