Inexpensive single-fiber bidirectional data link
First Claim
1. An optical bidirectional data link comprising:
- a multi-mode fiber;
a first optical transceiver comprisinga first light-emitting diode (LED) generating light having a first wavelength optically coupled to a first end of the fiber, anda first optical detector detecting light having a second wavelength different from the first wavelength optically coupled to the first end of the fiber;
a second optical transceiver comprisinga second LED generating light having the second wavelength optically coupled to a second end of the fiber, anda second optical detector detecting light having the first wavelength optically coupled to the second end of the fiber;
a first optical coupler for optically coupling the first LED and the first optical detector to the first end of the fiber; and
a second optical coupler for optically coupling the second LED and the second optical detector to the second end of the fiber;
whereineach optical coupler comprisesa light pipe defining a first surface along its length positioned adjacent to an emitting portion of the corresponding LED and a detecting portion of the corresponding optical detector, defining at one end a reflective second surface positioned in front of the emitting portion of the corresponding LED and the detecting portion of the corresponding optical detector and forming a substantially 45°
angle with the first surface, and defining at another end a lens for optically coupling the optical coupler to the respective end of the optical fiber.
15 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An optical wavelength-division multiplexed bidirectional data link (FIG. 1) is constructed using a single multi-mode fiber (130). The link comprises the optical fiber with a single-lens optical transceiver (100, 150) at each end of the fiber. Each single-lens optical transceiver comprises a transmitter in the form of a surface-emitting light-emitting diode (LED 101) that emits light at a wavelength of 0.85 μm, and a receiver in the form of a large-scale optical detector (102) and a dielectric optical filter (103) that has a passband at a wavelength of 1.3 μm. In the other transceiver, the wavelengths of the transmitter and the receiver are reversed. The transceiver is made as a single integrated-circuit device and is coupled to the fiber by a single-lens optical coupler (110, 160). The optical coupler is a light pipe (112) that consists of the following: a first surface (114) along the length of the light pipe for positioning adjacent to the transceiver, a reflective planar second surface (111) at one end of the light pipe for positioning in front of the transceiver and forming a 45° angle with the first surface, and a convex lens (113) at the other end of the light pipe for optically coupling light into and out of the multimode fiber.
60 Citations
9 Claims
-
1. An optical bidirectional data link comprising:
-
a multi-mode fiber; a first optical transceiver comprising a first light-emitting diode (LED) generating light having a first wavelength optically coupled to a first end of the fiber, and a first optical detector detecting light having a second wavelength different from the first wavelength optically coupled to the first end of the fiber; a second optical transceiver comprising a second LED generating light having the second wavelength optically coupled to a second end of the fiber, and a second optical detector detecting light having the first wavelength optically coupled to the second end of the fiber; a first optical coupler for optically coupling the first LED and the first optical detector to the first end of the fiber; and a second optical coupler for optically coupling the second LED and the second optical detector to the second end of the fiber;
whereineach optical coupler comprises a light pipe defining a first surface along its length positioned adjacent to an emitting portion of the corresponding LED and a detecting portion of the corresponding optical detector, defining at one end a reflective second surface positioned in front of the emitting portion of the corresponding LED and the detecting portion of the corresponding optical detector and forming a substantially 45°
angle with the first surface, and defining at another end a lens for optically coupling the optical coupler to the respective end of the optical fiber. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
-
-
5. An optical transceiver for an optical bidirectional data link having a single multi-mode fiber, comprising:
-
a light-emitting diode for generating light having a first wavelength and transmitting the generated light into the fiber; an optical detector for detecting light received from the fiber and having a second wavelength different from the first wavelength; and a light pipe defining a first surface along its length for positioning adjacent to an emitting portion of a light-emitting diode (LED) and a detecting portion of an optical detector of the optical transceiver, defining at one end a reflective second surface for positioning in front of the emitting portion of the LED and the detecting portion of the optical detector and forming a substantially 45°
angle with the first surface, and defining at another end a lens for optically coupling the optical coupler to an end of the multi-mode fiber. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. An optical coupler for coupling an optical transceiver to a multi-mode fiber in an optical bidirectional data link, comprising:
a light pipe defining a first surface along its length for positioning adjacent to an emitting portion of a light-emitting diode (LED) and a detecting portion of an optical detector of the optical transceiver, defining at one end a reflective second surface for positioning in front of the emitting portion of the LED and the detecting portion of the optical detector and forming a substantially 45°
angle with the first surface, and defining at another end a lens for optically coupling the optical coupler to an end of the multi-mode fiber.
Specification