Methods and apparatus for constructing large wavelength selective switches using parallelism
First Claim
1. A wavelength-selective switch (WSS) comprising:
- multiple parallel non-cascaded WSSs;
at least one add path coupled to an input of at least one of the WSSs, the add path configured to carry optical traffic from at least one tributary path; and
an optical coupler optically coupled to the multiple parallel non-cascaded WSSs.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Optical networks are increasingly employing optical network nodes having multiple interfaces to allow a node to direct optical signals received at any interface to any other interface connected to the node. Constructing a larger wavelength selective switching (WSS) module used in such a node can be complex and expensive. A method an apparatus for constructing a large WSS using parallelism is provided. In example embodiments, a larger WSS may include multiple parallel non-cascaded smaller WSSs and an optical coupler configured to optically couple the multiple parallel, non-cascaded smaller WSSs. This technique may be used to construct both N×1 and 1×N WSSs. Because the technique employs multiple parallel, non-cascaded WSSs, all inputs of a larger N×1 WSS and all outputs of a larger 1×N WSS are available receive or transmit external signals rather than being rather than being unavailable due to, for example, cascading smaller WSS devices together.
39 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A wavelength-selective switch (WSS) comprising:
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multiple parallel non-cascaded WSSs; at least one add path coupled to an input of at least one of the WSSs, the add path configured to carry optical traffic from at least one tributary path; and an optical coupler optically coupled to the multiple parallel non-cascaded WSSs. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of wavelength-selective switching of optical signals at an optical node, the method comprising:
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performing multiple parallel non-cascaded wavelength-selective switching of multiple optical signals having multiple wavelengths; coupling at least one add path to an input of the multiple parallel non-cascaded wavelength selective switching, the add path configured to carry optical traffic from at least one tributary path; and coupling the multiple optical signals associated with the multiple parallel non-cascaded wavelength selective switching to a common optical path. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A wavelength-selective switch (WSS) comprising:
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multiple parallel non-cascaded WSSs having all inputs configured to be available to receive optical signals having multiple wavelengths at the WSS; at least one add path coupled to an input of at least one of the WSSs, the add path configured to carry optical traffic from at least one tributary path; and an optical coupler optically coupled to outputs of the multiple parallel non-cascaded WSSs. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of wavelength selective switching of optical signals at an optical node, the method comprising:
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performing multiple parallel non-cascaded wavelength selective switching of optical signals having multiple wavelengths received at input ports all available to receive the optical signals; coupling at least one add path to an input port of the multiple parallel non-cascaded wavelength selective switching, the add path configured to carry optical traffic from at least one tributary path; and coupling multiple output optical paths associated with the multiple parallel non-cascaded wavelength selective switching to a common optical path. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A wavelength-selective switch (WSS) comprising:
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multiple parallel non-cascaded WSSs having all outputs configured to be available to output optical signals having multiple wavelengths from the WSS; at least one add path coupled to an input of at least one of the WSSs, the add path configured to carry optical traffic from at least one tributary path; and an optical coupler optically coupled to inputs of the multiple parallel non-cascaded WSSs. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method of wavelength-selective switching of optical signals at an optical node, the method comprising:
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performing multiple parallel non-cascaded wavelength-selective switching of optical signals having multiple wavelengths transmitted from output ports such that all the output ports are available to transmit the optical signals; coupling at least one add path to an input port of the multiple parallel non-cascaded wavelength selective switching, the add path configured to carry optical traffic from at least one tributary path; and coupling a common optical path to multiple input optical paths associated with the multiple parallel non-cascaded wavelength selective switching. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification