Modular wavelength selective switch
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus comprising:
- at least one first input port each for receiving a respective input multiple wavelength optical signal;
for each first input port, an optical signal separator adapted to separate the input optical signal into at least two portions, and to output each portion to a respective first output port;
at least one second output port for outputting a respective output optical signal;
for each second output port, an optical signal combiner having at least two second input ports, the optical signal combiner adapted to combine optical signals received at the at least two second input ports;
at least one reconfigurable wavelength selective device, each wavelength selective device interconnecting wavelength selectively one of the first output ports to at least one of the second input ports.
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Abstract
Modular WSS (wavelength selective switch) designs are provided that allow a WSS to be built out for a first set of wavelengths, with the capacity for later expansion to handle a second set of wavelengths with minimal impact on the operation of the system for the first set of wavelengths. An optical signal separator separates each incoming signal into the two bands, and at each output, the bands are then re-combined. In between, wavelength selective switching is performed separately for each of the two bands, or initially only for one of the bands, with later upgradability to switch the second band.
18 Citations
49 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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at least one first input port each for receiving a respective input multiple wavelength optical signal;
for each first input port, an optical signal separator adapted to separate the input optical signal into at least two portions, and to output each portion to a respective first output port;
at least one second output port for outputting a respective output optical signal;
for each second output port, an optical signal combiner having at least two second input ports, the optical signal combiner adapted to combine optical signals received at the at least two second input ports;
at least one reconfigurable wavelength selective device, each wavelength selective device interconnecting wavelength selectively one of the first output ports to at least one of the second input ports. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 49)
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31. An apparatus comprising:
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a full-band drop device having an input port, a through port and a first plurality of drop ports;
a full-band add device having an input port connected to the through port of the full-band device, and having a first plurality of add ports;
a reduced-band drop device having a second plurality of drop ports, and having an input port connected to one of said first plurality of drop ports;
a reduced-band add device having a second plurality of add ports and having an output port connected to one of said first plurality of add devices.
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32. An apparatus comprising:
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a first main optical path comprising a first wavelength adding device having a first plurality of add ports and a first wavelength dropping device having a first plurality of drop ports;
a second main optical path comprising a second wavelength adding device having a second plurality of add ports and a second wavelength dropping device having a second plurality of drop ports;
for each of pair of drop ports comprising one port of each of said pluralities of drop ports, a respective optical signal combiner combining outputs of the pair of drop ports into a combined drop port signal;
for each pair of add ports comprising one port of each of said pluralities of add ports, at least one optical separator separating an input signal to the two add ports. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35)
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36. An apparatus comprising:
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a plurality M of port pairs each comprising an input port and an output port;
for each input port, an optical signal separator splitting an input optical signal into at least two portions;
for each output port, an optical signal combiner for combining optical signals received at inputs to the optical signal combiner;
a plurality of interconnections and wavelength selective switches between outputs of optical signal separators and inputs of the optical signal combiners. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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45. A method comprising:
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receiving at least one input multiple wavelength optical signal;
for each input multiple wavelength optical signal, separating the input optical signal into at least two portions;
outputting at least one output optical signal as a combination of at least two optical signals;
wavelength selectively switching at least one of the portions to produce at least one of the optical signals to be combined in the output optical signals. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48)
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Specification