Compact wide-angle pixellated active optical link
First Claim
1. An optical communication apparatus, comprising:
- a housing having an aperture for receiving optical communication signals;
a lens disposed within the aperture and configured to direct the optical communication signals to locations in a backplane according to their respective angles of incidence;
a pixel array situated in the backplane and optically coupled to the lens, each pixel in the pixel array comprising an optical detector and an active optical source, wherein;
the optical detector of each pixel converts an optical signal to a corresponding electric signal,the active optical source of each pixel converts an electric signal to a corresponding optical signal, and the optical detector and the active optical source are interleaved on a same plane to form the pixel array,each pixel in the pixel array is configured to send and receive the optical communication signals at a unique angle of incidence;
a memory configured to store registration information comprising associations between pixels in the pixel array and one or more senders in an optical network; and
a processor coupled to the memory and configured to determine, from an inbound electric signal corresponding to an inbound optical signal received at a first pixel in the pixel array, whether an identifier of the inbound electric signal matches a sender associated with the first pixel based on the registration information, the processor being further configured to generate, for the active optical source of a second pixel in the pixel array, an outbound electric signal in response to determining that the identifier of the inbound electric signal matches the registration information.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system, method, and optical communication device are disclosed. The system can include a plurality of optically coupled nodes forming an optical communication network. Each node may include an array of pixel elements, each pixel element having an optical detector and an active optical source. The pixel array may be disposed in a backplane of a lens that is configured to map incoming optical signals to pixel locations in the backplane according to their respective angles of incidence and to minimize a deviation at each pixel location between incoming optical signals arriving at the optical detector and emissions from the optical source. The node may include a processor and memory. The processor can register senders in the optical network at locations in the pixel array and can generate routing information by which to route communications from the registered senders to other pixel elements for transmission to their respective destinations.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. An optical communication apparatus, comprising:
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a housing having an aperture for receiving optical communication signals; a lens disposed within the aperture and configured to direct the optical communication signals to locations in a backplane according to their respective angles of incidence; a pixel array situated in the backplane and optically coupled to the lens, each pixel in the pixel array comprising an optical detector and an active optical source, wherein; the optical detector of each pixel converts an optical signal to a corresponding electric signal, the active optical source of each pixel converts an electric signal to a corresponding optical signal, and the optical detector and the active optical source are interleaved on a same plane to form the pixel array, each pixel in the pixel array is configured to send and receive the optical communication signals at a unique angle of incidence; a memory configured to store registration information comprising associations between pixels in the pixel array and one or more senders in an optical network; and a processor coupled to the memory and configured to determine, from an inbound electric signal corresponding to an inbound optical signal received at a first pixel in the pixel array, whether an identifier of the inbound electric signal matches a sender associated with the first pixel based on the registration information, the processor being further configured to generate, for the active optical source of a second pixel in the pixel array, an outbound electric signal in response to determining that the identifier of the inbound electric signal matches the registration information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of sending and receiving data in an optical network with a network node having a pixel array, each pixel comprising an optical detector and an active optical source, the method comprising:
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generating registration information comprising a plurality of associations between pixels in the pixel array and one or more senders in the optical network; detecting an inbound electric signal at the optical detector of a first pixel in the pixel array, wherein the optical detector of each pixel converts an optical signal to a corresponding electric signal; obtaining an identifier of the inbound electric signal; determining whether the identifier of the inbound electric signal matches a sender associated with the first pixel based on the registration information; and modulating the active optical source of a second pixel in the pixel array with an outbound electric signal in response to determining that the identifier of the inbound electric signal matches the registration information, wherein; the active optical source of each pixel converts the outbound electric signal to a corresponding optical signal, the optical detector and the active optical source of each pixel are interleaved on a same plane to form the pixel array, and each pixel in the pixel array is configured to send and receive the optical signal at a unique angle of incidence. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification