OPTICAL SWITCH

• US 20140072302A1
• Filed: 09/04/2013
• Published: 03/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Furukawa Electric Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Furukawa Electric Company Limited
• Inventors: Kagi, Nobuyuki, Oguri, Atsushi, IWAMA, Masaki
• Application Number:
  US14/017,743
• Publication Number:
  US 20140072302A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 398/48
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/29311 Diffractive element operating in transmission
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/3512 the optical element being reflective, e.g. mirror
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/3556 NxM switch, i.e. regular arrays of switches elements of matrix type constellation
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/356 in an optical cross-connect device, e.g. routing and switching aspects of interconnecting different paths propagating different wavelengths to (re)configure the various input and output links switching polarized beams G02B6/3594; power equalizers G02B6/356 and G02B6/3594; path selecting means H04Q11/0001
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0005 Switch and router aspects

Abstract

An optical switch includes light input/output ports, each having a port group of inputting/outputting a light, an optical path manipulation unit having optical path switching units of switching an optical path of a light from an input port in the port group to an optical path toward an output port in the same port group according to each of the light input/output ports, and a condenser lens condensing light from the light input/output ports on the optical path switching units corresponding to the port groups and optically-couples the light input/output ports with the optical path manipulation unit. The input/output optical paths of the light input/output ports with respect to the condenser lens are parallel to each other between the ports in the same port group and are unparallel to each other between the ports in the different port groups as seen from a direction perpendicular to a port arrangement direction.

Claims

1. An optical switch comprising:

a plurality of light input/output ports, each of which has a port group of inputting or outputting a light;

an optical path manipulation unit which has a plurality of optical path switching units of switching an optical path of a light input from an input port in the port group to an optical path toward an output port in the same port group according to each of the light input/output ports; and

a condenser lens which condenses light input from the plurality of light input/output ports on the plurality of optical path switching units corresponding to the port groups and optically couples light input from the plurality of optical path switching units with the plurality of light input/output ports corresponding to the port groups,

wherein the input/output optical paths of the plurality of light input/output ports with respect to the condenser lens are parallel to each other between the ports in the same port group and are not parallel to each other between the ports in the different port groups as seen from a direction perpendicular to an arrangement direction of optical waveguides which are the ports in the port groups.

2. The optical switch according to claim 1, wherein the condenser lens has a single optical axis.

3. The optical switch according to claim 2, wherein the condenser lens condenses light at least in a plane parallel to the arrangement direction.

4. The optical switch according to claim 3, further comprising an anamorphic optical system which shapes beam shapes of the lights input from the plurality of light input/output ports to be in an elliptical shape.

5. The optical switch according to claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of light input/output ports is arranged along the arrangement direction.

6. The optical switch according to claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of light input/output ports is arranged along the direction perpendicular to the arrangement direction.

7. The optical switch according to claim 4, wherein the input/output optical paths of the plurality of light input/output ports with respect to the anamorphic optical system are not parallel to each other between the ports in the different port groups as seen from the arrangement direction.

8. The optical switch according to claim 3, wherein the ports between the different port groups in the plurality of light input/output ports has an angle on at least one of a plane parallel to the arrangement direction and a plane perpendicular to the arrangement direction.

9. The optical switch according to claim 4, further comprising:

a first cylindrical lens which condenses light input from the plurality of light input/output ports in a plane perpendicular to the arrangement direction; and

a second cylindrical lens which condenses light input from the condenser lens toward the optical path manipulation unit in the plane perpendicular to the arrangement direction,

wherein the condenser lens is a cylindrical lens which condenses light in a plane parallel to the arrangement direction, and

the first cylindrical lens, the second cylindrical lens, and the condenser lens constitute an anamorphic optical system of which beam shapes of the lights input from the plurality of light input/output ports to be in an elliptical shape.

10. The optical switch according to claim 7, wherein the anamorphic optical system is configured with an anamorphic prism.

11. The optical switch according to claim 10, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of light input/output ports has different optical distances from the anamorphic optical system.

12. The optical switch according to claim 11, wherein, with respect to the distances from the plurality of light input/output ports to the anamorphic optical system, the distance of the light input/output port having smaller incident angle to an incident plane of the anamorphic prism among the input/output optical paths incident on the anamorphic optical system is large.

13. The optical switch according to claim 10, wherein the anamorphic optical system is configured to include two or more anamorphic prisms, each of which has two facing optical planes and of which directions where the interval between two optical planes is narrowed are arranged to be alternated.

14. The optical switch according to claim 13, wherein the anamorphic optical system is configured to include four anamorphic prisms of which directions where the interval between two optical planes is narrowed are arranged alternated.

15. The optical switch according to claim 11, wherein the condenser lens is configured to include a first cylindrical lens which condenses light in a plane perpendicular to the arrangement direction and a second cylindrical lens which condenses light in a plane parallel to the arrangement direction.

16. The optical switch according to claim 3, wherein at least one of the plurality of light input/output ports is inclined with respect to an optical axis of the condenser lens.

17. The optical switch according to claim 16, wherein the optical paths of the light input from two or more different port groups in the plurality of light input/output ports intersect each other in the vicinity of a focal point of the condenser lens.

18. The optical switch according to claim 3, further comprising a wavelength dispersion element which disperses the light input from the plurality of light input/output ports according to the wavelength.

19. The optical switch according to claim 18, wherein a wavelength dispersion direction of the wavelength dispersion element is substantially perpendicular to the arrangement direction.