BEAM STEERING ELEMENT AND ASSOCIATED METHODS FOR MANIFOLD FIBEROPTIC SWITCHES AND MONITORING
First Claim
1. A co-packaged optical switch and optical spectrometer for switching and monitoring one or more optical signals, the signals comprising one or more optical wavelengths, each optical wavelength constituting a work piece, said optical switch and optical spectrometer further comprising:
- one or more input fiber ports, each said input fiber port serving as an external interface for introducing one or more input optical signals into said optical switch;
one output fiber port, said output fiber port serving as an external interface for extracting the output optical signal from said optical switch;
one or more shared optical elements, wherein each said optical element focuses the one or more optical signals of said one or more input fiber ports and the optical signal of said one output fiber port;
at least one shared wavelength dispersive element for spatially separating at least one first wavelength of one of the one or more input optical signals from at least one other wavelength of the input optical signal and for recombining at least one first wavelength of a selected input optical signal of the one or more input optical signals with at least one other wavelength of the one or more input optical signals to form the output optical signal;
an array of switching elements, at least one switching element for receiving one wavelength from each of said one or more input fiber ports and for switching one selected wavelength from one of said one or more input fiber ports to said one output fiber port according to a position of said at least one switching element;
a tap for coupling a portion of said one output fiber port optical signal to at least one input monitoring port;
at least one moveable reflective element for translating laterally across a selected band of the optical spectrum of said portion of said one output fiber port optical signal as projected by said wavelength dispersive element, and for reflecting a narrow band of said selected band of the optical spectrum to an output monitoring fiber port according to a position of said moveable reflective element;
at least one beam steering element configured to position each wavelength from each of said one or more input fiber ports onto a designated switching element of said array of switching elements, to position at least one selected wavelength from said switching element to said output fiber port, and to position the optical spectrum of said portion of said one output fiber port optical signal projected by said wavelength dispersive element onto said at least one moveable reflective element; and
,an optical measurement device for receiving said narrow band of said selected band of the optical spectrum from said output monitoring fiber port and for measuring an optical power of said narrow band of said selected band of the optical spectrum.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An optical system comprising a combination optical switch and monitoring system based on an array of mirrors, and a moveable reflective element co-packaged together, including discrete sets of fiber ports wherein λn from input fiber ports is focused on λn mirror via the use of shared free space optics; such as shared beam steering elements, dispersive elements, and optical elements, and discrete arrays of MEMS mirrors utilized to select and switch selected wavelengths from the input fiber port(s) to an output fiber port(s) of the optical switch, and wherein a moveable reflective element sharing the same free space optics is utilized to sweep across and reflect selected portions of the optical spectrum back to a photodetector. By correlating reflective element position with power measured, a processor can obtain a spectral plot of the wavelength band of interest, as well as calculate parameters such as center wavelength, passband shape, and OSNR.
108 Citations
45 Claims
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1. A co-packaged optical switch and optical spectrometer for switching and monitoring one or more optical signals, the signals comprising one or more optical wavelengths, each optical wavelength constituting a work piece, said optical switch and optical spectrometer further comprising:
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one or more input fiber ports, each said input fiber port serving as an external interface for introducing one or more input optical signals into said optical switch; one output fiber port, said output fiber port serving as an external interface for extracting the output optical signal from said optical switch; one or more shared optical elements, wherein each said optical element focuses the one or more optical signals of said one or more input fiber ports and the optical signal of said one output fiber port; at least one shared wavelength dispersive element for spatially separating at least one first wavelength of one of the one or more input optical signals from at least one other wavelength of the input optical signal and for recombining at least one first wavelength of a selected input optical signal of the one or more input optical signals with at least one other wavelength of the one or more input optical signals to form the output optical signal; an array of switching elements, at least one switching element for receiving one wavelength from each of said one or more input fiber ports and for switching one selected wavelength from one of said one or more input fiber ports to said one output fiber port according to a position of said at least one switching element; a tap for coupling a portion of said one output fiber port optical signal to at least one input monitoring port; at least one moveable reflective element for translating laterally across a selected band of the optical spectrum of said portion of said one output fiber port optical signal as projected by said wavelength dispersive element, and for reflecting a narrow band of said selected band of the optical spectrum to an output monitoring fiber port according to a position of said moveable reflective element; at least one beam steering element configured to position each wavelength from each of said one or more input fiber ports onto a designated switching element of said array of switching elements, to position at least one selected wavelength from said switching element to said output fiber port, and to position the optical spectrum of said portion of said one output fiber port optical signal projected by said wavelength dispersive element onto said at least one moveable reflective element; and
,an optical measurement device for receiving said narrow band of said selected band of the optical spectrum from said output monitoring fiber port and for measuring an optical power of said narrow band of said selected band of the optical spectrum. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A co-packaged optical switch and optical spectrometer for switching and monitoring one or more optical signals, the signals comprising one or more optical wavelengths, each optical wavelength constituting a work piece, said optical switch and optical spectrometer further comprising:
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one input fiber port, said input fiber port serving as an external interface for introducing the input optical signal into said optical switch; one or more output fiber ports, each said output fiber port serving as an external interface for extracting one or more output optical signals from said optical switch; one or more shared optical elements, wherein each said optical element focuses the optical signal of said one input fiber port and the one or more optical signals of said one or more output fiber ports; at least one shared wavelength dispersive element for spatially separating at least one first wavelength of the input optical signal from at least one other wavelength of the input optical signal and for recombining at least one first wavelength of the output optical signal with at least one other wavelength of the output optical signal; an array of switching elements, at least one switching element for receiving at least one wavelength from said one input fiber port and switching at least one wavelength of said one input fiber port to one of said one or more output fiber ports according to a state of said at least one shared arrayed switching element; at least one tap on at least one of said one or more output fiber ports for coupling a portion of said at least one of said one or more output fiber ports optical signal; an optical combiner for receiving one or more said portion of said at least one of said one or more output fiber ports optical signal and for combining said one or more said portion of said at least one of said one or more output fiber ports optical signal, wherein said optical combiner couples said one or more said portion of said at least one of said one or more output fiber ports optical signal into an input monitoring port; at least one moveable reflective element for translating laterally across a selected band of the optical spectrum of said one or more said portion of said at least one of said one or more output fiber ports optical signal as projected by said wavelength dispersive element, and for reflecting a narrow band of said selected band of the optical spectrum to an output monitoring fiber port according to a position of said moveable reflective element; at least one shared arrayed steering element for steering the at least one wavelength from said one input fiber port onto said at least one switching element, and for steering the at least one wavelength from said at least one switching element to any of said one or more output fiber ports and to position the optical spectrum of said one or more said portion of said at least one of said one or more output fiber ports optical signal projected by said wavelength dispersive element onto said at least one moveable reflective element; and an optical measurement device for receiving said one or more said portion of said at least one of said one or more output fiber ports optical signal and for measuring an optical power of said narrow band of said selected band of the optical spectrum.
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23. A device in a co-packaged optical switch and optical spectrometer, the device configured to reflect a selected portion of a wavelength spectrum of an optical signal, the device comprising:
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a moveable element for receiving the wavelength spectrum and for reflecting a selected portion of the wavelength spectrum according to a position of said moveable element, said moveable element comprising a reflective area positioned on said moveable element for performing the reflecting; and one or more shared optical elements, wherein each said optical element focuses, disperses, multiplexes, steers, or otherwise conditions the wavelength spectrum. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A method of measuring a selected portion of a wavelength spectrum comprising:
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focusing the wavelength spectrum utilizing one or more shared optical elements; switching the wavelength spectrum from at least one input fiber port to at least one output fiber port; receiving a selected portion of the wavelength spectrum; and positioning a moveable reflective element to reflect a selected band of said selected portion of the wavelength spectrum back through said shared optical elements to an optical power measurement device. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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Specification