MULTIBAND RECONFIGURABLE OPTICAL ADD-DROP MULTIPLEXING WITH CONVERGED SIGNAL ADDITION AND REMOVAL
First Claim
1. An apparatus, comprising:
- a line input device configured to;
accept a plurality of input signals of a plurality of wavelength groups,provide a plurality of the input signals of a first wavelength group as a bundle of first input signals, andprovide a plurality of the input signals of a second wavelength group as a bundle of second input signals;
a distributing device coupled to the line input device, configured to;
accept the bundle of first input signals and the bundle of second input signals from the line input device,distribute at least some first input signals into distributed first groups of signals,distribute at least some second input signals into distributed second groups of signals, andprovide the distributed first groups and second groups of signals;
a combining device coupled to the distributing device, configured to;
accept at least some of the distributed first groups of signals, at least some of the distributed second groups of signals, and optionally one or more added signals, andcombine at least some of the distributed first groups of signals and the optionally one or more added signals into a bundle of first output signals, andprovide the bundle of first output signals;
a line output device coupled to the combining device, configured to;
accept the bundle of first output signals from the combining device,accept a bundle of second output signals of the second wavelength group, andprovide a plurality of output signals including signals of the bundle of first output signals and signals of the bundle of second output signals; and
a signal add-drop device coupled to the distributing device and the combining device, configured to;
accept one or more distributed first groups of signals of the first wavelength group from the distributing device,accept one or more distributed second groups of signals of the second wavelength group from the distributing device,receive one or more dropped signals at a receiver that is capable of receiving signals from more than one wavelength group, including the first and second wavelength groups, andprovide at least one added signal to the combining device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Various architectures for implementing multi-band reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexing with converged signal addition and removal are provided. Under the described architectures, channel isolation is improved, performance requirements for switching elements are lower, and it may be possible to reduce the number of line side switching elements by a factor of two. The use of additional spectrum per fiber with the described architectures results in fewer required ports per switching element. The degree of contention at signal addition and removal is also reduced. Moreover, the architectures support optical networks with higher capacities per fiber and therefore conserve fiber assets. The architectures are modular in nature, allowing a network to be deployed in a single-band setting and later upgraded to support multiple bands. This Abstract is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.
8 Citations
28 Claims
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
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a line input device configured to; accept a plurality of input signals of a plurality of wavelength groups, provide a plurality of the input signals of a first wavelength group as a bundle of first input signals, and provide a plurality of the input signals of a second wavelength group as a bundle of second input signals; a distributing device coupled to the line input device, configured to; accept the bundle of first input signals and the bundle of second input signals from the line input device, distribute at least some first input signals into distributed first groups of signals, distribute at least some second input signals into distributed second groups of signals, and provide the distributed first groups and second groups of signals; a combining device coupled to the distributing device, configured to; accept at least some of the distributed first groups of signals, at least some of the distributed second groups of signals, and optionally one or more added signals, and combine at least some of the distributed first groups of signals and the optionally one or more added signals into a bundle of first output signals, and provide the bundle of first output signals; a line output device coupled to the combining device, configured to; accept the bundle of first output signals from the combining device, accept a bundle of second output signals of the second wavelength group, and provide a plurality of output signals including signals of the bundle of first output signals and signals of the bundle of second output signals; and a signal add-drop device coupled to the distributing device and the combining device, configured to; accept one or more distributed first groups of signals of the first wavelength group from the distributing device, accept one or more distributed second groups of signals of the second wavelength group from the distributing device, receive one or more dropped signals at a receiver that is capable of receiving signals from more than one wavelength group, including the first and second wavelength groups, and provide at least one added signal to the combining device. - 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 method of multi-band reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexing, comprising:
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accepting a plurality of input signals that belong to a plurality of wavelength groups from a combination of contiguous and non-contiguous blocks of wavelength spectrum; separating the accepted plurality of input signals into sets of signals, each set belonging to one of the plurality of wavelength groups; selectively dropping one or more groups of signals, each group of signals configurable to include signals belonging to more than one of the wavelength groups. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification