Reconfigurable optical switch
First Claim
1. An optical switch comprising:
- at least one input port for receiving a WDM optical signal having a plurality of wavelength components;
at least three output ports;
a plurality of wavelength selective elements each selecting one of said wavelength components from among the plurality of wavelength components; and
a plurality of optical elements each associated with one of the wavelength selective elements, each of said optical elements directing the selected wavelength component selected by the associated selected element to a given one of the at least three output ports independently of every other wavelength component, said given output port being variably selectable from among the at least three output ports.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An optical switch includes at least one input port for receiving a WDM optical signal having a plurality of wavelength components, at least three output ports, and a plurality of wavelength selective elements each selecting one of the wavelength components from among the plurality of wavelength components. A plurality of optical elements are also provided, each of which are associated with one of the wavelength selective elements. Each of the optical elements direct the selected wavelength component that is selected by its associated selected element to a given one of the output ports independently of every other wavelength component. The given output port is variably selectable from among all the output ports.
80 Citations
88 Claims
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1. An optical switch comprising:
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at least one input port for receiving a WDM optical signal having a plurality of wavelength components;
at least three output ports;
a plurality of wavelength selective elements each selecting one of said wavelength components from among the plurality of wavelength components; and
a plurality of optical elements each associated with one of the wavelength selective elements, each of said optical elements directing the selected wavelength component selected by the associated selected element to a given one of the at least three output ports independently of every other wavelength component, said given output port being variably selectable from among the at least three output ports. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for directing at least first and second wavelength components of a WDM signal that includes a plurality of wavelength components from an input port to selected ones of a plurality of output ports, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) demultiplexing the first wavelength component from the WDM signal;
(b) directing the first wavelength component to a given output port;
(c) demultiplexing the second wavelength component from the WDM signal and directing the second wavelength component to one of the output ports selected independently from the given output port, wherein step (c) is performed subsequent to steps (a) and (b), wherein said plurality of output ports includes at least three output ports and wherein step (c) includes the step of directing the second wavelength component to any of said at least three output ports selected independently from the given output port. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. An optical switch comprising:
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at least one input port for receiving a WDM optical signal having a plurality of wavelength components;
a plurality of output ports;
means for selecting at least one of said wavelength components from among the plurality of wavelength components and directing the at least one selected wavelength component to a given one of the plurality of output ports independently of every other wavelength component, said given output port being variably selectable from among the plurality of output ports, wherein said selecting and directing means comprises a plurality of narrow band free space switches, and wherein said narrow band free space switch includes a thin film filter and a tiltable optical element. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. An optical switch comprising:
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at least one input port for receiving a WDM optical signal having a plurality of wavelength components;
at least three output ports;
at least one wavelength selective element selecting each of said wavelength components from among the plurality of wavelength components; and
a plurality of optical elements each receiving a distinct one of the wavelength components from the at least one wavelength selective element, each of said optical elements directing the received wavelength component to a given one of the at least three output ports independently of every other wavelength component, said given output port being variably selectable from among the at least three output ports. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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53. An optical switch comprising.
at least one input port for receiving a WDM signal having N wavelength components, where N is an integer ≧ - 2;
M output ports where M is an integer ≧
3; and
N narrow band, free space switches, wherein for each switch i, where i is an integer from 1 to N, said ith switch selects the ith wavelength component and directs said ith component to a given one of the output ports independently of the output ports to which all of the remaining (N−
1) switches direct their respectively selected wavelength components, and wherein said ith switch selects and directs the ith wavelength component regardless of the input port at which said ith wavelength component is received.- View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
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60. An optical switch comprising:
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at least one input port for receiving a WDM optical signal having a plurality of wavelength components;
at least three output ports;
a plurality of wavelength selective elements being arranged so that a first of said wavelength selective elements selects a first wavelength component from among the plurality of wavelength components before a second of said wavelength selective elements selects a second wavelength component from among the plurality of wavelength components; and
a plurality of optical elements each associated with one of the wavelength selective elements, each of said optical elements directing the selected wavelength component selected by the associated wavelength selective element to a given one of the at least three output ports independently of every other wavelength component, said given output port being variably selectable from among the at least three output ports, wherein a first of said optical elements associated with the first wavelength selective element is arranged to direct the selected wavelength component to the given output port before said second of the wavelength selective elements selects the second wavelength component from among the plurality of wavelength components. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75)
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76. A method for directing at least first and second wavelength components of a WDM signal that includes a plurality of wavelength components from an input port to selected ones of at least three output ports, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) demultiplexing the first wavelength component from the WDM signal;
(b) directing the first wavelength component to a given output port;
(c) demultiplexing the second wavelength component from the WDM signal; and
(d) directing the second wavelength components to any selected one of the at least three output ports selected independently from the given output port. - View Dependent Claims (77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88)
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Specification