Optical communications system
First Claim
1. A wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) optical communications system, comprising:
- (a) a plurality of transmission units, each comprising;
a variable wavelength setting unit which varies the wavelength of an outgoing optical signal according to an external command and provides an output wavelength description indicating which wavelengths are supported, an optical signal transmitter which transmits the outgoing optical signal with the wavelength set by said variable wavelength setting unit, and an optical signal receiver which receives an incoming optical signal with a single particular wavelength, the incoming optical signal having been produced through wavelength-division multiplexing and demultiplexing processes;
(b) a WDM unit, comprising;
a WDM controller which controls multiplexing and demultiplexing of optical signals, and a plurality of optical output ports used to output optical signals to the transmission units, each being fixedly associated with a particular output wavelength; and
(c) a monitoring station, comprising;
an administration controller which manages administrative data concerning connections and operations of said transmission units, and an optical cross-connect controller which controls optical cross-connects in said WDM unit by sending the external command to said variable wavelength setting unit to set up connections between said plurality of transmission units according to the administrative data managed by said administration controller.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An optical communications system which offers flexible and efficient cross-connect capabilities without using optical switch modules. With external commands, a variable wavelength setting unit varies output wavelength of each transmission unit. It also provides an output wavelength description indicating which wavelengths can be produced. An optical signal transmitter transmits an outgoing optical signal with the controlled wavelength, while an optical signal receiver receives an incoming optical signal with a single particular wavelength which have been produced through WDM processes. In a WDM unit, a WDM controller controls optical multiplexers and demultiplexers, and the resultant signals go out through optical output ports which are each associated with particular output wavelengths. In a monitoring station, an administration controller manages administrative data concerning connections and operations of transmission units, and based on that data, an optical cross-connect controller set up connections via the WDM unit, sending commands to the variable wavelength setting unit.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) optical communications system, comprising:
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(a) a plurality of transmission units, each comprising;
a variable wavelength setting unit which varies the wavelength of an outgoing optical signal according to an external command and provides an output wavelength description indicating which wavelengths are supported, an optical signal transmitter which transmits the outgoing optical signal with the wavelength set by said variable wavelength setting unit, and an optical signal receiver which receives an incoming optical signal with a single particular wavelength, the incoming optical signal having been produced through wavelength-division multiplexing and demultiplexing processes;
(b) a WDM unit, comprising;
a WDM controller which controls multiplexing and demultiplexing of optical signals, and a plurality of optical output ports used to output optical signals to the transmission units, each being fixedly associated with a particular output wavelength; and
(c) a monitoring station, comprising;
an administration controller which manages administrative data concerning connections and operations of said transmission units, and an optical cross-connect controller which controls optical cross-connects in said WDM unit by sending the external command to said variable wavelength setting unit to set up connections between said plurality of transmission units according to the administrative data managed by said administration controller. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An optical transmission unit, comprising:
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a variable wavelength setting unit which varies the wavelength of an outgoing optical signal according to an external command and provides an output wavelength description indicating which wavelengths are supported;
an optical signal transmitter which transmits the outgoing optical signal with the wavelength set by said variable wavelength setting unit; and
an optical signal receiver which receives an incoming optical signal with a single particular wavelength, the incoming optical signal having been produced through wavelength-division multiplexing and demultiplexing processes.
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10. A wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) unit, comprising:
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a WDM controller which controls multiplexing and demultiplexing of optical signals; and
a plurality of optical output ports used to output optical signals to the transmission units, each being fixedly associated with a particular output wavelength.
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11. A monitoring station which monitors an optical network, comprising:
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an administration controller which manages administrative data concerning connections and operations of transmission units on the optical network; and
an optical cross-connect controller which controls optical cross-connects within a WDM unit, by sending an external command to a variable wavelength setting unit in each transmission unit according to the administrative data managed by said administration controller, so as to set up connections between the transmission units via a WDM unit, whereby;
the variable wavelength setting unit varies the wavelength of an outgoing optical signal according to the external command, and provides an output wavelength description indicating which wavelengths are supported, and the WDM unit controls multiplexing and demultiplexing of optical signals and outputs the optical signals to the transmission units through a plurality of optical output ports each being associated with a particular output wavelength. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification