Reconfigurable optical add-drop module, system and method
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of optical ports including an input optical port for receiving an optical signal with a plurality of wavelength channels, and a plurality of output ports;
for each optical port, a respective waveguide dispersive element optically connected to the optical port, the dispersive elements integrated on a same waveguide device in a first plane;
a bulk optical element having optical power;
a plurality of non-transmissive routing elements;
wherein the dispersive element of the input port disperses each of the wavelength channels at a different respective exiting angle dependent upon wavelength,wherein the bulk optical element redirects each one of the wavelength channels at a respective angle towards a respective one of said plurality of routing elements, andwherein said plurality of routing elements directs each of the wavelength channels via the bulk optical element to a selected output port in the first plane via the respective dispersive element of the selected output at a respective angle of incidence dependent upon the selected output port.
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Abstract
An apparatus, system, and method for all-optical wavelength add-drop switching are provided. A number of optical ports, including at least one input port and at least one output port, are each optically coupled to a respective dispersive element. When a multichannel optical signal is input through an input port, an optical beam of each channel emerges from the dispersive element at an angle depending upon its wavelength. The beams emerging from the dispersive element pass through a bulk optical element which redirects each beam toward a respective one of a number of routing or switching elements, each of which has been set to redirect the respective beam through the bulk optical element towards a selected dispersive element coupled to a selected output port.
66 Citations
60 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of optical ports including an input optical port for receiving an optical signal with a plurality of wavelength channels, and a plurality of output ports; for each optical port, a respective waveguide dispersive element optically connected to the optical port, the dispersive elements integrated on a same waveguide device in a first plane; a bulk optical element having optical power; a plurality of non-transmissive routing elements; wherein the dispersive element of the input port disperses each of the wavelength channels at a different respective exiting angle dependent upon wavelength, wherein the bulk optical element redirects each one of the wavelength channels at a respective angle towards a respective one of said plurality of routing elements, and wherein said plurality of routing elements directs each of the wavelength channels via the bulk optical element to a selected output port in the first plane via the respective dispersive element of the selected output at a respective angle of incidence dependent upon the selected output port. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of optical ports including an input optical port for receiving an input optical signal with a plurality of wavelength channels, and at least two output optical ports; for each optical port, a respective dispersive element optically connected to the optical port, the dispersive elements of the output optical ports being integrated on a first waveguide substrate in a first plane; a plurality of transmissive routing elements; a first bulk optical element having optical power; and a second bulk optical element having optical power; wherein the dispersive element of the input port disperses the wavelength channels in the input optical signal at respective exiting angles dependent upon wavelength, and wherein the first bulk optical element redirects each one of the wavelength channels at a respective angle towards a respective one of said plurality of transmissive routing elements, and wherein, for each wavelength channel the respective one of said plurality of transmissive routing elements directs said wavelength channel in the first plane via the second bulk optical element to a respective selected port of said output ports via the respective dispersive element of the selected output port at a respective angle of incidence dependent upon the selected output port. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. An apparatus comprising:
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a stacked plurality of rows of optical ports, the ports comprising;
an input optical port for receiving an input optical signal with a plurality of wavelength channels; and
a plurality of output optical ports;for each optical port, a respective dispersive element optically connected to the optical port, forming rows of multiple dispersive elements, wherein each row of dispersive elements is integrated on a different waveguide device, forming a stack of waveguide devices in parallel planes; a bulk optical element having optical power; a plurality of routing elements; wherein the dispersive element of the input port disperses each of the wavelength channels at a different respective exiting angle dependent upon wavelength in a first plane; wherein the bulk optical element redirects each of the the wavelength channels towards a respective one of the plurality of routing elements, and wherein the plurality of routing elements directs each of said wavelength channels via the bulk optical element to a respective selected output port in the first plane or one of the planes parallel thereto via the respective dispersive element of the selected output port at a respective angle of incidence dependent upon wavelength and the selected output. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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Specification