Apparatus and method for providing gain equalization
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. An optical system, comprising:
- a wavelength division demultiplexer operable to separate a multiple wavelength signal into a plurality of wavelength signals;
a first beam splitter operable to receive at least one of the plurality of wavelength signals as an optical input signal, and to communicate at least a first part of the optical input signal in a first path and a second part of the optical input signal in a second path, wherein the first part and the second part of the optical input signal comprise unequal amplitudes;
a micro-electro-optic system (MEMS) device comprising a moveable mirror operable to receive the first part of the optical input signal from the first beam splitter and to reflect the first part to an output port to form an output signal, the amplitude of the output signal capable of being varied depending on the displacement of the moveable mirror; and
a wavelength division multiplexer operable to receive a plurality of output signal wavelengths and to multiplex at least some of the output signal wavelengths into an optical output signal.
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Abstract
In one aspect of the invention, a gain equalizer comprises a wavelength division demultiplexer operable to separate one or more communication bands into a plurality of wavelengths and an array of phase shifter stages. Each phase shifter stage comprises a micro-electro-optic system (MEMS) device comprising a moveable mirror layer operable to receive a first copy of an input signal from a beam splitter and to reflect the first copy of the input signal for combination with a second copy of the input signal at an output to form an output signal. The moveable mirror layer is displaceable in a substantially piston-like motion to introduce a phase shift between the first and second signal copies at the output, the amplitude of the output signal varying depending on the displacement of the moveable mirror layer. The gain equalizer further comprises a wavelength division multiplexer operable to receive a plurality of phase shifted wavelengths from the second beam splitter and to multiplex at least some of the phase shifted wavelengths into an optical output signal.
56 Citations
21 Claims
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1. An optical system, comprising:
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a wavelength division demultiplexer operable to separate a multiple wavelength signal into a plurality of wavelength signals;
a first beam splitter operable to receive at least one of the plurality of wavelength signals as an optical input signal, and to communicate at least a first part of the optical input signal in a first path and a second part of the optical input signal in a second path, wherein the first part and the second part of the optical input signal comprise unequal amplitudes;
a micro-electro-optic system (MEMS) device comprising a moveable mirror operable to receive the first part of the optical input signal from the first beam splitter and to reflect the first part to an output port to form an output signal, the amplitude of the output signal capable of being varied depending on the displacement of the moveable mirror; and
a wavelength division multiplexer operable to receive a plurality of output signal wavelengths and to multiplex at least some of the output signal wavelengths into an optical output signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of manipulating a plurality of wavelengths, the method comprising:
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receiving an optical input signal comprising a plurality of wavelengths;
separating, using a first beam splitter, at least one of the plurality of wavelengths of the optical input signal into a first part and a second part, wherein the first part comprises an amplitude that is different than an amplitude of the second part;
communicating at least a portion of the first part to a plurality of attenuators;
at one or more of the attenuators;
communicating at least the first part toward a moveable mirror of a micro-electro-optic system (MEMS) device;
reflecting the first part toward an output to form at least one output signal; and
displacing the moveable mirror to cause a change in the amplitude of the output signal relative to the amplitude of the at least one of the plurality of wavelengths of the optical input signal. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A multiple band optical communication system, comprising:
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a plurality of optical amplifiers, each operable to receive and amplify at least one of a plurality of communication bands, each communication band comprising a plurality of wavelengths;
a first beam splitter operable to receive an optical input signal residing in at least one of the communication bands, and to communicate at least a first part of the optical input signal in a first path and a second part of the optical input signal in a second path, wherein the first part and the second part of the optical input signal comprise unequal amplitudes; and
a gain equalizer coupled to at least one of the plurality of optical amplifiers, the gain equalizer operable to receive at least one of the plurality of amplified wavelengths and to selectively introduce attenuation or gain into the at least one of the plurality of amplified wavelengths, wherein the gain equalizer comprises;
a wavelength division demultiplexer operable to separate one or more communication bands into a plurality of wavelengths;
a micro-electro-optic system (MEMS) device comprising a moveable mirror layer operable to receive the first part of the input signal and to reflect the first part of the input signal toward an output to form an output signal, the amplitude of the output signal varying depending on the displacement of the moveable mirror layer; and
a wavelength division multiplexer operable to receive a plurality of output signal wavelengths and to multiplex at least some of the output signal wavelengths into an optical output signal. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification