Attenuation device for wavelength multiplexed optical fiber communications
First Claim
1. An optical signal attenuation device for selectively attenuating different wavelength signals contained within a multiplexed transmission, comprising:
- a first diffraction element for diffracting the light associated with the multiplexed transmission, wherein each wavelength signal contained within the multiplexed transmission is directed along a separate optical path; and
a modulator disposed along each separate optical path, wherein each modulator receives a wavelength signal from said diffraction element and causes a corresponding signal to be produced at a selective optical signal strength.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An optical signal attenuation device and associated method for selectively attenuating the signal strengths of different wavelength signals contained within a multiplexed optical transmission. The attenuation device includes a diffracting element that diffracts the multiplexed optical system and directs the different wavelength signals onto separate optical paths. A modulator array is provided that contains a plurality of optical modulators spaced at a pitch so that each modulator receives one of the different wavelength signals. Each optical modulator causes a signal to be produced that correspond to the signal it receives, except that the signal strength of the emitted signal is altered to fall within a desired range. Each signal emitted by the optical modulators is again directed toward a diffraction element. The diffraction element combines the separate wavelength signals, thereby producing a multiplexed signal where each wavelength has a signal strength that falls within a common range.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. An optical signal attenuation device for selectively attenuating different wavelength signals contained within a multiplexed transmission, comprising:
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a first diffraction element for diffracting the light associated with the multiplexed transmission, wherein each wavelength signal contained within the multiplexed transmission is directed along a separate optical path; and a modulator disposed along each separate optical path, wherein each modulator receives a wavelength signal from said diffraction element and causes a corresponding signal to be produced at a selective optical signal strength. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An optical signal attenuation device for selectively attenuating different wavelength signals contained within a multiplexed transmission, comprising:
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a first diffraction element for diffracting the light associated with the multiplexed transmission, wherein each wavelength signal contained within the multiplexed transmission is directed along a separate optical path; a modulator disposed along each separate optical path, wherein each modulator receives a wavelength signal from said diffraction element and causes a corresponding signal to be produced at a selective optical signal strength; and a plurality of optical power detectors for detecting the optical power associated with each wavelength signal received by each said modulator. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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11. An optical signal attenuation device for selectively attenuating different wavelength signals contained within a multiplexed transmission, comprising:
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a first diffraction element for diffracting the light associated with the multiplexed transmission, wherein each wavelength signal contained within the multiplexed transmission is directed along a separate optical path; a modulator disposed along each separate optical path, wherein each modulator receives a wavelength signal from said diffraction element and causes a corresponding signal to be produced at a selective optical signal strength; and a plurality of optical power detectors for detecting the optical power associated with each signal produced by each said modulator. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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13. An optical signal attenuation device for selectively attenuating different wavelength signals contained within a multiplexed transmission, comprising:
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a first diffraction element for diffracting the light associated with the multiplexed transmission, wherein each wavelength signal contained within the multiplexed transmission is directed along a separate optical path; a modulator disposed along each separate optical path, wherein each modulator receives a wavelength signal from said diffraction element and causes a corresponding signal to be produced at a selective optical signal strength; and a first plurality of optical power detectors for detecting the optical power associated with each wavelength signal received by each said modulator and a second plurality of optical power detectors for detecting the optical power associated with each signal produced by each said modulator. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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16. In an optical network containing a plurality of optical fibers and at least one optical switch for selectively optically connecting at least some of said optical fibers together into one of a plurality of configurations, wherein each of the configurations disproportionately effects the signal strengths of the different wavelength signals contained within a multiplexed optical signal and causes the different signal strengths to vary in relation to one another outside an acceptable range, an attenuation device for correcting the optical signal, comprising:
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a first plurality of detectors for detecting the signal strength corresponding to each wavelength signal contained within the multiplexed optical signal; and an attenuator, coupled to said first plurality of detectors, for selectively attenuating the signal strength for each wavelength signal in the multiplexed optical signal to produce a corrected wavelength signal, wherein the signal strength for each corrected wavelength signal falls within said acceptable range. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of equalizing the signal strengths of the different wavelength signals contained within a multiplexed optical signal, comprising the steps of:
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separating each of said wavelength signals from said multiplexed optical signal; correcting the signal strength associated with each of said wavelength signals so that the signal strength of each of said wavelength signals falls within a compatible range; and multiplexing each of said wavelength signals to produce a corrected multiplexed optical signal wherein all the wavelengths contained within the corrected multiplexed optical signal have a signal strength within said compatible range. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification