N×N optical switch
First Claim
1. An optical cross-connect connecting a series of optical input ports to a series of optical output ports, the cross-connect including:
- at least a first group of input/output port arrays located at spatially separated locations in at least a first horizontal dimension;
each of the input/output port arrays having a series of optical input/output ports disposed horizontally and configured to project or receive optical signals;
a plurality of steering elements configured to selectively steer optical signals along switching trajectories between the input and output ports by tilting vertically at predetermined inter-array angles to select a desired input/output port array and by tilting horizontally at predetermined intra-array angles to select a desired input/output port within the desired input/output port array;
an angle-to-offset conversion unit for converting optical signals propagating at the horizontal intra-array angles to corresponding spatial offset signals in the horizontal dimension; and
an optical interconnect having a series of input/output regions, each of the input/output regions being specific to a corresponding input/output port array and the input/output regions being divided vertically into elongated switching rows, each input/output region receiving spatial offset signals from the angle-to-offset conversion unit and optically interconnecting each spatial offset signal from a first input/output region to a second input/output region with predetermined interconnects interconnecting the input/output regions based on the inter-array angles of the spatial offset signals.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An optical cross-connect connecting a series of optical input ports to a series of optical output ports includes at least a first group of input/output port arrays, each including a series of optical input/output ports disposed horizontally and configured to project or receive optical signals. A plurality of steering elements selectively steer optical signals along switching trajectories between the input and output ports. An angle-to-offset conversion unit converts optical signals propagating at the horizontal intra-array angles to corresponding spatial offset signals in the horizontal dimension. An optical interconnect includes a series of input/output regions, each being specific to a corresponding input/output port array and the input/output regions being divided vertically into elongated switching rows. Each input/output region receives spatial offset signals from the angle-to-offset conversion unit and optically interconnects each spatial offset signal from a first input/output region to a second input/output region.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. An optical cross-connect connecting a series of optical input ports to a series of optical output ports, the cross-connect including:
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at least a first group of input/output port arrays located at spatially separated locations in at least a first horizontal dimension; each of the input/output port arrays having a series of optical input/output ports disposed horizontally and configured to project or receive optical signals; a plurality of steering elements configured to selectively steer optical signals along switching trajectories between the input and output ports by tilting vertically at predetermined inter-array angles to select a desired input/output port array and by tilting horizontally at predetermined intra-array angles to select a desired input/output port within the desired input/output port array; an angle-to-offset conversion unit for converting optical signals propagating at the horizontal intra-array angles to corresponding spatial offset signals in the horizontal dimension; and an optical interconnect having a series of input/output regions, each of the input/output regions being specific to a corresponding input/output port array and the input/output regions being divided vertically into elongated switching rows, each input/output region receiving spatial offset signals from the angle-to-offset conversion unit and optically interconnecting each spatial offset signal from a first input/output region to a second input/output region with predetermined interconnects interconnecting the input/output regions based on the inter-array angles of the spatial offset signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification