Variable blazed grating based signal processing
DCFirst Claim
Patent Images
1. An optical switching element comprising:
- a variable blazed grating operable to receive and reflect one or more input signals while the grating remains in a first position and to receive and reflect one or more input signals while the grating remains in a second position, the variable blazed grating comprising;
an inner conductive layer; and
a plurality of approximately adjacent at least partially reflective mirror strips disposed outwardly from the inner conductive layer, each strip operable to receive a portion of an input optical signal, wherein each of the plurality of strips is operable to undergo a partial rotation resulting in a reflection of a majority of the input signal toward an output; and
a first circulator operable to receive from the variable blazed grating a first output signal traveling approximately along the path of an input signal to the grating but in an approximately opposite direction to that input signal, the circulator further operable to redirect the first output signal from the path of the input signal.
5 Assignments
Litigations
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In one aspect of the invention, an optical switching element includes a variable blazed grating operable to receive and reflect one or more input signals while the grating remains in a first position and to receive and diffract one or more input signals while the grating remains in a second position. The switching element further includes a first circulator operable to receive from the variable blazed grating a first output signal traveling approximately along the path of an input signal to the grating but in an approximately opposite direction to that input signal, and to redirect the first output signal from the path of the input signal.
54 Citations
65 Claims
-
1. An optical switching element comprising:
-
a variable blazed grating operable to receive and reflect one or more input signals while the grating remains in a first position and to receive and reflect one or more input signals while the grating remains in a second position, the variable blazed grating comprising;
an inner conductive layer; and
a plurality of approximately adjacent at least partially reflective mirror strips disposed outwardly from the inner conductive layer, each strip operable to receive a portion of an input optical signal, wherein each of the plurality of strips is operable to undergo a partial rotation resulting in a reflection of a majority of the input signal toward an output; and
a first circulator operable to receive from the variable blazed grating a first output signal traveling approximately along the path of an input signal to the grating but in an approximately opposite direction to that input signal, the circulator further operable to redirect the first output signal from the path of the input signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. An optical switching element, comprising:
-
a variable blazed grating operable to receive a first optical input signal from a first input and to reflect the first signal toward a first output while the grating remains in a first position, the variable blazed grating further operable to undergo a displacement to a second position, the displacement resulting in a reflection of a majority of the first input signal toward a second output;
wherein the optical switching element is operable to switch between the first position and the second position and at a rate optimized for a packet size having at least a specified number of bytes being transmitted at a particular data rate. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A method of processing optical signals using a variable blazed grafting the method comprising:
-
receiving at a variable blazed grating residing in a first position one or more optical input signals, the variable blazed grating comprising;
an inner conductive layer, and a plurality of approximately adjacent at least partially reflective mirror strips disposed outwardly from the inner conductive layer, each strip operable to receive a portion of an input optical signal, wherein each of the plurality of strips is operable to undergo a partial rotation, the partial rotation resulting in a reflection of a majority of the input signal toward an output;
displacing the grating between a first position and a second position;
reflecting the input signals while the blazed grating remains at the first position;
for each input signal received, reflecting a majority of that input signal in a particular direction while the grating remains at the second position; and
receiving from the grating a first output signal at a first circulator disposed in the path of an input signal, the first circulator operable to redirect the first output signal from the path of the input signal. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
-
-
33. An optical switching element comprising:
-
a variable blazed grating operable to receive and reflect one or more input signals while the grating remains in a first position and to receive and reflect one or more input signals while the grating remains in a second position;
a first circulator operable to receive from the variable blazed grating a first output signal traveling approximately along the path of an input signal to the grating but in an approximately opposite direction to that input signal, the circulator further operable to redirect the first output signal from the path of the input signal; and
a second circulator operable receive from the variable blazed grating a second output signal traveling approximately along the path of an input signal to the variable blazed grating but in an approximately opposite direction to that input signal, the circulator further operable to redirect the second output signal from the path of the input signal. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37)
-
-
38. A method of processing optical signals using a variable blazed grating, the method comprising:
-
receiving at a variable blazed grating residing in a first position one or more optical input signals;
displacing the grating between a first position and a second position;
reflecting the input signals while the blazed grating remains at the first position;
for each input signal received, reflecting a majority of that input signal in a particular direction while the grating remains at the second position;
receiving from the grating a first output signal at a first circulator disposed in the path of an input signal, the first circulator operable to redirect the first output signal from the path of the input signal;
receiving from the grating a second output signal at a second circulator disposed in the path of an input signal, the second circulator operable to redirect the second output signal from the path of the input signal. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42)
-
-
43. An optical switching element comprising:
-
a variable blazed grating operable to receive and reflect one or more input signals while the grating remains in a first position and to receive and diffract one or more input signals while the grating remains in a second position, the variable blazed grating comprising;
an inner conductive layer; and
a plurality of approximately adjacent at least partially reflective mirror strips disposed outwardly from the inner conductive layer, each strip operable to receive a portion of an input optical signal wherein each of the plurality of strips is operable to undergo a partial rotation resulting in a reflection of a majority of the input signal toward an output; and
a first circulator operable to receive from the variable blazed grating a first output signal traveling approximately along the path of an input signal to the grating but in an approximately opposite direction to that input signal, the circulator further operable to redirect the first output signal from the path of the input signal. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
-
-
51. An optical switching element, comprising:
-
a variable blazed grating operable to receive a first optical input signal from a first input and to reflect the first signal toward a first output while the grating remains in a first position, the variable blazed grating further operable to undergo a displacement to a second position, the displacement resulting in a diffraction of a majority of the first input signal toward a second output;
wherein the the optical switching element is operable to switch between the first position and the second position and at a rate optimized for a packet size having at least a specified number of bytes being transmitted at a particular data rate. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53)
-
-
54. A method of processing optical signals using a variable blazed grating, the method comprising:
-
receiving at a variable blazed grating residing in a first position one or more optical input signals, the variable blazed grating comprising;
an inner conductive layer; and
a plurality of approximately adjacent at least partially reflective mirror strips disposed outwardly from the inner conductive layer, each strip operable to receive a portion of an input optical signal, wherein each of the plurality of strips is operable to undergo a partial rotation, the partial rotation resulting in a reflection of a majority of the input signal toward an output;
displacing the grating between a first position and a second position;
reflecting the input signals while the blazed grating remains at the first position;
for each input signal received, diffracting a majority of that input signal in a particular direction while the grating remains at the second position; and
receiving from the grating a first output signal at a first circulator disposed in the path of an input signal, the first circulator operable to redirect the first output signal from the path of the input signal. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
-
-
61. An optical switching element comprising:
-
a variable blazed grating operable to receive and reflect one or more input signals while the grating remains in a first position and to receive and diffract one or more input signals while the grating remains in a second position;
a first circulator operable to receive from the variable blazed grating a first output signal traveling approximately along the path of an input signal to the grating but in an approximately opposite direction to that input signal, the circulator further operable to redirect the first output signal from the path of the input signal; and
a second circulator operable receive from the variable blazed grating a second output signal traveling approximately along the path of an input signal to the variable blazed grating but in an approximately opposite direction to that input signal, the circulator further operable to redirect the second output signal from the path of the input signal. - View Dependent Claims (62, 63, 64, 65)
-
Specification