Optical cross connect apparatus and method
First Claim
1. An optical cross-connect apparatus, comprising:
- a plurality of optical inputs;
a plurality of optical outputs;
an optical cross-connect defining a plurality of optical cross-connect paths between said plurality of optical inputs and said plurality of optical outputs;
at least one optical filter provided outside of said cross-connect, said at least one optical filter filtering at least one optical channel of an optical signal flowing into at least one of said plurality of optical inputs or filtering at least one optical channel of an optical signal flowing out of at least one of said plurality of optical outputs or both; and
wherein at least one of said plurality of optical cross-connect paths does not have a filter within said cross-connect in optical communication therewith.
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Abstract
A new architecture is proposed for making optical cross connect in wavelength division multiplexed networks. The value of optical networks incorporating all-optical cross connects is typically associated with being able to selectively route individual channel wavelengths through several network nodes without performing optical-electrical and electrical-optical conversion. From a network perspective, most work on the optical cross connect architectures have been concentrated on the highest possible capability for the cross-connect itself. The problem with considering optical cross connect architectures in isolation without attention to the rest of the network may lead to unnecessarily complicated hardware. In the proposed architecture, architecture considers the network as a whole and significant cost reductions as well as complexity reductions are realized.
23 Citations
26 Claims
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1. An optical cross-connect apparatus, comprising:
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a plurality of optical inputs; a plurality of optical outputs; an optical cross-connect defining a plurality of optical cross-connect paths between said plurality of optical inputs and said plurality of optical outputs; at least one optical filter provided outside of said cross-connect, said at least one optical filter filtering at least one optical channel of an optical signal flowing into at least one of said plurality of optical inputs or filtering at least one optical channel of an optical signal flowing out of at least one of said plurality of optical outputs or both; and wherein at least one of said plurality of optical cross-connect paths does not have a filter within said cross-connect in optical communication therewith. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26)
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4. An optical cross-connect apparatus, comprising:
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a plurality of optical inputs; a plurality of optical outputs; an optical cross-connect provided between said plurality of optical inputs and said plurality of optical outputs; and at least one optical filter provided outside of said cross-connect, said at least one optical filter filtering at least one optical channel of an optical signal flowing into at least one of said plurality of optical inputs or filtering at least one optical channel of an optical signal flowing out of at least one of said plurality of optical outputs or both; wherein there are no optical filters included within said optical cross-connect.
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10. A method of optimizing a cross-connect apparatus by reducing the number of filters required for cross connecting a plurality of optical inputs and a plurality of optical outputs, the method comprising:
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providing an optical cross-connect between the plurality of optical inputs and the plurality of optical outputs; optically filtering at least one optical channel of an optical signal flowing into at least one of said plurality of optical inputs or at least one optical channel of an optical signal flowing out of at least one of said plurality of optical outputs or both, thereby obviating the requirement of optically filtering said at least one optical channel within said optical cross-connect; and providing a signal from said at least one optical input to at least one optical output without filtering said signal within said optical cross-connect. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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13. An optical cross-connect apparatus, comprising:
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a plurality of optical inputs; a plurality of optical outputs; an optical cross-connect provided between said plurality of optical inputs and said plurality of optical outputs such that paths are formed between a subset of said plurality of optical inputs and a subset of said plurality of optical outputs, wherein a path is defined as a connection between a particular optical input and a particular output; at least one optical filter provided outside of said cross-connect such that for each one path that exists between a particular optical input and a particular optical output, the path'"'"'s input is filtered or the path'"'"'s output is filtered or both; and wherein at least one of said paths does not have a filter within said cross-connect in optical communication therewith. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 25)
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Specification