Systems, devices, and methods may use input/output (I/O) apparatus and an optical switching medium to switch, or route, optical data signals. The optical switching medium may include a plurality of optical switching regions. The I/O apparatus may transmit optical data signals to and receive optical data signals from the optical switching medium to provide switching functionality.

An optical device includes: wavelength selection elements; an optical switch that switches a propagation path of input light that is from an input port such that the input light propagates to one designated wavelength selection element among the wavelength selection elements; and a separation element disposed in the propagation path of the input light between the input port and the wavelength selection elements and that separates the input light into wavelength components.

An automated fiber optic patch-panel/cross-connect system comprised of a stacked arrangement of multiple replaceable modules, including a first multiplicity of fiber modules, each with a second multiplicity of reconfigurable internal fiber connectors; a common robot module shared among fiber modules, wherein any connector within a fiber module in the system can be moved to any other connector of any other fiber module in the system; a power management module that distributes electrical power to the fiber modules and the robot module; and a server module that generates commands that are placed on communication bus to activate robot and fiber modules. The modules are physically separated and spatially arranged to be serviced replaced without interrupting fiber connections previously established in the system.

A device and methods for cleaning an end of a fiber optic cable including a cleaning cartridge system for dispensing and usage monitoring of fiber end face cleaning fabric. The cleaning cartridge system includes a spool of cleaning fabric; an actuator that drives a fabric advance roller; a pressure sensor that detects when a fiber end face is in contact with fabric and outputs a contact-indicating signal; an internal control circuit that drives the actuator to advance the cleaning fabric in time-relation to the contact-indicating signal; and an external controller that determines proper advance of the cleaning fabric and consumption of the cleaning fabric over time. Methods of maintaining low loss physical fiber-optic connections in an automated cross-connect system use the cleaning device and methods.

An optical fiber array, wherein a preset number of optical fibers (13) are fixed by a substrate (12) and a lid plate (11) each provided with V-grooves, and the distribution of fiber cores of the preset number of optical fibers (13) on a port cross-section of the optical fiber array matches a preset curve, such that light beams transmitted and output through the optical fiber array are not transmitted on the same plane, and correspond to required positions on the preset curve. Accordingly, the optical fiber array meets application requirements of a novel WSS system, and can be widely used in the novel WSS system and in other scenarios having special requirements of light beam positions.

A module handles beams having multiple channels in an optical network. The module has a dispersion element, a liquid crystal (LC) based switching assembly, and photodetectors. The dispersion element is arranged in optical communication with the beams from inputs and is configured to disperse the beams into the channels across a dispersion direction. The switching assembly is arranged in optical communication with the channels from the dispersion element and is configured to selectively reflect the channels using electrically switchable cells of one or more LC-based switching engines. The photodetectors are arranged in optical communication with the dispersion element, and each are configured to receive selectively reflected channels for optical channel monitoring. Outputs can be arranged in optical communication with the dispersion element and can be configured to receive selectively reflected channels for wavelength selective switching.

An M×N wavelength selective switch (WSS), may comprise a common port fiber array unit (FAU) configured to emit optical beams with a lateral offset and a beam steering device configured to direct optical beams with an angular offset to add/drop port optical fibers of an add/drop port FAU. The common port FAU may comprise a first set of common port optical fibers arranged in a first column of the common port FAU and a second set of common port optical fibers arranged in a second column of the common port FAU. The second column of the common port FAU may be laterally offset from the first column of the common port FAU. The beam steering device may be configured to selectively direct, in two dimensions, the optical beams with the angular offset to the add/drop port optical fibers.

Systems, devices, and methods may use input/output (I/O) apparatus and an optical switching medium to switch, or route, optical data signals. The optical switching medium may include a plurality of optical switching regions. The I/O apparatus may transmit optical data signals to and receive optical data signals from the optical switching medium to provide switching functionality.

There is provided a small MCS with the number of leads reduced by half as compared with the conventional configuration. A multicast switch according to the present invention is formed on a substrate, comprising: M input ports, N output ports; M×N optical switch units (optical SU); optical waveguides optically connecting the M input ports, M×N optical SU, and N output ports; and leads connected to the respective M×N optical SU. A multicast switch is configured such that by activating one optical SU, an optical signal input to an input port associated with the activated optical SU is output from an output port associated with the activated optical SU. The M×N optical SU include at least a gate switch and a main switch. In each optical SU, the gate switch and the main switch are connected to the common lead.

The present disclosure describes a network including two levels of switching: a first level including wavelength selective switching via a first type of switching module, and a second level including fiber level switching via a second type of switching module. The two levels of switching allow for maintaining wavelength selective switching between transmission directions while introducing fiber selective switching between network degrees of the same transmission direction. The first type of switching module is configured to transmit and receive optical signals having a first set of wavelengths at a first network degree at a first direction in a node of a network. The second type of switching module is configured to transmit and receive the optical signals from the first type of switching module and route the optical signals at the first network degree to a second network degree in a second direction.