Optical cross bar switch assembly
First Claim
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1. A cross bar switch assembly, comprising:
- an array of input optical fibres;
a first lens device disposed on an output side of said input optical fibres to receive light output from said input optical fibres;
a fan out grating element disposed on an output side of said first lens device to receive light output from said first lens device and to angularly diffract and substantially replicate an intensity profile of said received light output from said first lens device;
a second lens device disposed on an output side of said fan out grating element to receive angularly diffracted and substantially replicated light output from said fan out grating and to effect a convergence of light emitted to an output side of said second lens device;
a third lens device disposed on an output side of said second lens device to receive said light output to said output side of said second lens device;
a spatial light modulator disposed on an output side of said third lens device to receive light output from said third lens device; and
an array of output optical fibres constructed and arranged to receive light output from said spatial light modulator,wherein said first lens device is an array of lenslets operable to receive light from each fibre of said array of input optical fibres is received and collimated separately by an associated one of said lenslets.
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Abstract
An optical cross bar switch assembly includes a first lens device (5) in the form of an array of lenslets (5a) operable to receive light from the input optical fiber array (1) in a manner such that the light from each fiber is received and collimated separately by an associated one of the lenslets (5a) with the collimated light from the array (5) being passed to a fan out grating element (3) which angularly diffracts and replicates the light from the input optical fibers.
10 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A cross bar switch assembly, comprising:
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an array of input optical fibres; a first lens device disposed on an output side of said input optical fibres to receive light output from said input optical fibres; a fan out grating element disposed on an output side of said first lens device to receive light output from said first lens device and to angularly diffract and substantially replicate an intensity profile of said received light output from said first lens device; a second lens device disposed on an output side of said fan out grating element to receive angularly diffracted and substantially replicated light output from said fan out grating and to effect a convergence of light emitted to an output side of said second lens device; a third lens device disposed on an output side of said second lens device to receive said light output to said output side of said second lens device; a spatial light modulator disposed on an output side of said third lens device to receive light output from said third lens device; and an array of output optical fibres constructed and arranged to receive light output from said spatial light modulator, wherein said first lens device is an array of lenslets operable to receive light from each fibre of said array of input optical fibres is received and collimated separately by an associated one of said lenslets. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A cross bar switch assembly for transferring a light image from an array of input optical fibres to an array of output optical fibres via switch assembly parts comprising:
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a least three lens devices; a fan out grating element; and a spatial light modulator, wherein a first lens device of said at least three lens devices is an array of lenslets operable to receive light from the array of input optical fibres in a manner such that the light from each fibre of said array of input optical fibres is received and collimated separately by an associated one of the lenslets, with the collimated light from the first lens device lenslet array being passed to the fan out grating element which angularly diffracts and replicates the light from the input optical fibres, wherein the spatial light modulator is a reflection spatial light modulator operable to switch received light in polarisation and reflect the polarisation switched light, wherein a third lens device of said at least three lens devices is an array of lenslets operable to collimate received light from passage to and from the spatial light modulator, the assembly further comprises a polarising beam splitter operable to transmit light to the spatial light modulator, receive the polarisation switched light reflected back from the spatial light modulator and split out the received polarisation switched light through substantially 90 degrees to the direction of light transmission through the polarising beam splitter, and wherein the polarising beam splitter is located between a second lens device and the third lens device in a manner such that the foci of light received from the second lens device lie between the second lens device and the polarising beam splitter, so that the split out polarisation switched light beams each form a focal point outside the polarising beam splitter on the output side thereof whereby the array of output optical fibres can be placed with individual fibres at the respective focal points.
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Specification