Active optical fiber tap
First Claim
1. An active optical fiber tap comprising:
- (a) means for positioning in fiber holding means a portion of an optical fiber adapted for longitudinally guiding first electromagnetic radiation, the portion of the fiber comprising a first region and a second region, the first region comprising means for causing emission of some of the first radiation from the fiber, the second region comprising means for causing coupling of second electromagnetic radiation into the fiber;
(b) means for detecting at least some of the first radiation emitted from the fiber portion, the detecting means having an output;
(c) radiation source means comprising means for modulating the emission of the radiation therefrom, the emitted radiation being the second radiation, at least a part of the second radiation to be coupled into the optical fiber;
(d) means for amplifying the output of the detecting means, the amplifying means having an input and an output, the output of the detecting means being connected to the input of the amplifying means, the output of the amplifying means being connected to the means for modulating the second radiation emission; and
(e) means for extracting an output signal from the optical fiber tap;
(f) wherein the fiber holding means comprise a semiconductor substrate comprising means for attaching thereto the portion of the optical fiber, and wherein the detecting means, the amplifying means, and the second radiation source means all comprise semiconductor devices integrated into the substrate.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An active tap for use in an optical multiple access network is disclosed. The tap comprises a semiconductor substrate on which the electronics associated with an active parallel path are fully integrated. These include optical detectors, amplifiers and light emitters formed using standard semiconductor fabrication techniques. A section of fiber, incorporated as an integral part of the tap structure, is provided with a pair of longitudinally spaced discontinuities for deflecting a portion of the incident signal onto the detector and for redirecting the output from the light emitter along the through-path. Alternatively, the tap substrate can be provided with a groove for receiving a fiber segment located anywhere along the distribution network.
68 Citations
9 Claims
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1. An active optical fiber tap comprising:
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(a) means for positioning in fiber holding means a portion of an optical fiber adapted for longitudinally guiding first electromagnetic radiation, the portion of the fiber comprising a first region and a second region, the first region comprising means for causing emission of some of the first radiation from the fiber, the second region comprising means for causing coupling of second electromagnetic radiation into the fiber; (b) means for detecting at least some of the first radiation emitted from the fiber portion, the detecting means having an output; (c) radiation source means comprising means for modulating the emission of the radiation therefrom, the emitted radiation being the second radiation, at least a part of the second radiation to be coupled into the optical fiber; (d) means for amplifying the output of the detecting means, the amplifying means having an input and an output, the output of the detecting means being connected to the input of the amplifying means, the output of the amplifying means being connected to the means for modulating the second radiation emission; and (e) means for extracting an output signal from the optical fiber tap; (f) wherein the fiber holding means comprise a semiconductor substrate comprising means for attaching thereto the portion of the optical fiber, and wherein the detecting means, the amplifying means, and the second radiation source means all comprise semiconductor devices integrated into the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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Specification