Beam steering element with built-in detector and system for use thereof
First Claim
1. An optical cross-connect switching system, comprising:
- a first beam steering element with a reflective surface in optical association with a first optical fiber array;
a second beam steering element with a reflective surface on a substrate in optical association with a second optical fiber array, the second beam steering element optically arranged with the first beam steering element to direct an optical beam from a first optical fiber in the first optical fiber array to a second optical fiber in the second optical fiber array; and
the substrate sensitive to an alignment beam to provide information about an angle of the first beam steering element.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An all-optical cross-connect switching system provides optical switching that may reduce processing requirements by three orders of magnitude over conventional techniques by associating at least one optical detector with an optical beam steering element. In one embodiment, a first beam steering element, having a reflective surface in optical association with a first optical fiber array, and a second beam steering element, having a reflective surface in optical association with a second optical fiber array, are optically arranged to direct an optical beam from a first optical fiber in the first optical fiber array to a second optical fiber in the second optical fiber array. The optical detector provides information about a first position of the optical beam on the second beam steering element. Based on this information, the angle of the first beam steering element may be adjusted to cause the optical beam to change to a second position on the second beam steering element.
21 Citations
24 Claims
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1. An optical cross-connect switching system, comprising:
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a first beam steering element with a reflective surface in optical association with a first optical fiber array; a second beam steering element with a reflective surface on a substrate in optical association with a second optical fiber array, the second beam steering element optically arranged with the first beam steering element to direct an optical beam from a first optical fiber in the first optical fiber array to a second optical fiber in the second optical fiber array; and the substrate sensitive to an alignment beam to provide information about an angle of the first beam steering element. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An optical cross-connect switching system comprising:
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an optical coupler to couple an alignment optical beam to a first optical path supporting a communications optical beam among first multiple optical paths; a first beam steering element with a reflective surface in optical association with the first multiple optical paths, including the first optical path; a second beam steering element with a reflective surface on a substrate in optical association with the first beam steering element and second multiple optical paths, the second beam steering element optically arranged with the first beam steering element to direct an optical beam from the first optical path in the first multiple optical paths to a second optical fiber in the second optical path in the second multiple optical paths; and the substrate sensitive to the alignment optical beam to provide information about a position of the alignment optical beam on the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification