DIRECTIONLESS RECONFIGURABLE OPTICAL ADD-DROP MULTIPLEXER SYSTEMS AND METHODS
First Claim
1. A directionless reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer, comprising:
- an ingress device receiving a plurality of wavelengths from an input connection, wherein the ingress device is configured to provide one or more of the plurality of wavelengths on a first output and a second output;
a splitter connected to the first output of the ingress device, wherein the splitter is configured to split the one or more of the plurality of wavelengths from the first output into multiple copies of the one or more of the plurality of wavelengths, and wherein the multiple copies are provided on a plurality of outputs;
a switch connected to the plurality of outputs from the splitter and a plurality of tunable filters, wherein the switch is configured to switch each of the multiple copies to one or more of the plurality of tunable filters, wherein each of the plurality of tunable filters is configured to tune to a wavelength passband to provide a single output of the plurality of wavelengths; and
an egress device receiving the second output.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides a directionless reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) system. The present invention provides a scalable all-optical switching element that includes a combination of 1×N wavelength selective switches (WSS), 1×N splitters/combiners, optical amplifiers, and tunable filters to provide a fully non-blocking solution which can be deployed in a scalable manner. The 1×N splitters are configured to split multiples copies of a plurality of drop wavelengths which can be amplified and sent to a tunable filter which selects out a particular wavelength for drop. The 1×N combiners are configured to combine multiple add wavelengths for egress transmission.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A directionless reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer, comprising:
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an ingress device receiving a plurality of wavelengths from an input connection, wherein the ingress device is configured to provide one or more of the plurality of wavelengths on a first output and a second output; a splitter connected to the first output of the ingress device, wherein the splitter is configured to split the one or more of the plurality of wavelengths from the first output into multiple copies of the one or more of the plurality of wavelengths, and wherein the multiple copies are provided on a plurality of outputs; a switch connected to the plurality of outputs from the splitter and a plurality of tunable filters, wherein the switch is configured to switch each of the multiple copies to one or more of the plurality of tunable filters, wherein each of the plurality of tunable filters is configured to tune to a wavelength passband to provide a single output of the plurality of wavelengths; and an egress device receiving the second output. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An N degree directionless optical node, comprising:
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an N degree reconfigurable optical-add drop multiplexer configured to receive inputs from each of N ingress degrees and to transmit outputs to each of N egress degrees; N 1×
B splitters each connected to one of the N ingress degrees through the N degree reconfigurable optical-add drop multiplexer, wherein B is an integer; anda switch comprising S×
T ports connected to the N 1×
B splitters and to one or more tunable filters and connected to N 1×
B combiners and to one or more input signals, wherein each of the one or more tunable filters is configured to tune to a wavelength passband to provide a single wavelength output, and wherein S and T comprise integers greater than one;wherein the N 1×
B combiners each connect to one of the N egress degrees through the N degree reconfigurable optical-add drop multiplexer. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A directionless method for adding and dropping wavelengths with a reconfigurable optical-add drop multiplexer, comprising:
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receiving a plurality of wavelengths at an ingress degree of the reconfigurable optical-add drop multiplexer; routing one or more of the plurality of wavelengths to one or more egress degrees of the reconfigurable optical-add drop multiplexer; broadcasting dropped wavelengths to a switch, wherein the dropped wavelengths comprise one or more of the plurality of wavelengths; switching the broadcasted dropped wavelengths to one or more tunable filters; and filtering at each of the one or more tunable filters to provide one output of the broadcasted dropped wavelengths. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification