Patent classifications
H04Q2011/003
Secondary grid plates for optical switching applications
An optical assembly includes a light source for providing a beam of light, a lens system configured to expand and collimate the beam of light, and a configurable beam injector, wherein the beam injector contains a first grid plate and a second grid plate to block individual beams of light. The first grid plate and the second grid plate may be configured such that each grid plate respectively corresponds to particular MEMS mirrors. The grid plates can be configured to have pathways that allow for beams of light to be passed through and other pathways which are blocked to prevent the passage of light. The first grid plate and second grid plate may thus block or allow for transmission of beams of lights to those particular MEMS mirrors. The second grid plate can be configured to be easily swappable during or removable to allow for a different set of beams of light, corresponding to a different set of MEMS mirrors, to be blocked. The second grid plate can be configured to be rotated or slid linearly within a housing.
Optical non-uniformity correction (NUC) for active mode imaging sensors using micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) micro-mirror arrays (MMAs)
An active mode image sensor for optical non-uniformity correction (NUC) of an active mode sensor uses a Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) Micro-Mirror Array (MMA) having tilt, tip and piston mirror actuation to form and scan a laser spot that simultaneously performs the NUC and illuminates the scene so that the laser illumination is inversely proportional to the response of the imager at the scan position. The MEMS MMA also supports forming and scanning multiple laser spots to simultaneously interrogate the scene at the same or different wavelengths. The piston function can also be used to provide wavefront correction. The MEMS MMA may be configured to generate a plurality of fixed laser spots to perform an instantaneous NUC.
Optical wavelength selective switch, an optical network node, an optical network and methods therein
A method in an optical Wavelength Selective Switch, WSS, for multidirectional switching of optical signals. The optical WSS comprises a reflective element, a first tributary port and a second tributary port. The optical WSS switches (304) an optical signal between the first tributary port and the second tributary port with the reflective element.
MICRO-ELECTRO-MECHANICAL SYSTEM OPTICAL SWITCH AND SWITCHING NODE
A MEMS optical switch and a switching node are disclosed. The MEMS optical switch includes N.sub.1 input ports, N.sub.1 input MEMS mirrors, M.sub.1 output ports, and M.sub.1 output MEMS mirrors, where a first input port is configured to transmit a first optical signal to a first input MEMS mirror. The first input MEMS mirror is configured to reflect the first optical signal to a first destination output MEMS mirror, where along a straight line in which a first deflection axis is located, the first input MEMS mirror is located on an edge of the N.sub.1 input MEMS mirrors, and when reflecting the received first optical signal to a first output MEMS mirror and a second output MEMS mirror, the first input MEMS mirror deflects towards an opposite direction relative to a second deflection axis.
3D-MEMS optical switch
A 3D-MEMS optical switch is disclosed. In an embodiment, the 3D-MEMS optical switch includes a collimator array, a PD array, a wedge prism, a light-splitting triangular prism, a micro-electro-mechanical system MEMS micro-mirror, and a core optical switch controller that is connected to the PD array and the MEMS micro-mirror. In the present invention, the PD array is integrated into a core optical switch, which simplifies an architecture of the optical switch and reduces a volume of the optical switch; the wedge prism and the light-splitting triangular prism are used to perform light splitting, and some optical signals are transmitted to the PD array to detect optical power, so that the core optical switch controller adjusts the MEMS micro-mirror according to the optical power, which is detected by the PD array, of the optical signal, making an insertion loss of the 3D-MEMS optical switch meet a preset attenuation range.
Method for compensating for wavelength shift in wavelength selective switch, and device therefor
A method for compensating for a wavelength shift in a wavelength selective switch (WSS), and a device therefor. The device comprises a fixed seat (301) as well as a rotation beam (304) and a compensation block (302) that have different thermal expansion amounts, the rotation beam (304) and the compensation block (302) being fixedly adhered to the fixed seat (301). In the method, a combined structure of the rotation beam (304) and the compensation block (302) with different thermal expansion amounts is adopted; the combined structure rotates by means of different expansion amounts generated by the rotation beam (304) and the compensation block (302) at the same external temperature, and further drives an optical element of the WSS to rotate, hence compensating for a wavelength shift of the WSS. The method is safe and reliable; the device has a simple structure, and is convenient to encapsulate, is applicable to various WSS optical paths, and does not affect advantages of the optical path structure of the WSS.
Photonic switches, photonic switching fabrics and methods for data centers
Data center interconnections, which encompass WSCs as well as traditional data centers, have become both a bottleneck and a cost/power issue for cloud computing providers, cloud service providers and the users of the cloud generally. Fiber optic technologies already play critical roles in data center operations and will increasingly in the future. The goal is to move data as fast as possible with the lowest latency with the lowest cost and the smallest space consumption on the server blade and throughout the network. Accordingly, it would be beneficial for new fiber optic interconnection architectures to address the traditional hierarchal time-division multiplexed (TDM) routing and interconnection and provide reduced latency, increased flexibility, lower cost, lower power consumption, and provide interconnections exploiting scalable optical modular optically switched interconnection network as well as temporospatial switching fabrics allowing switching speeds below the slowest switching element within the switching fabric.
WIRING INFORMATION GENERATION SYSTEM, AND WIRING INFORMATION GENERATION METHOD
A wiring information creation system includes a switching device that switches a transmission path of an optical signal between an upper network and a lower network in units of combinations of physical ports, a switching control device that outputs, to the switching device, an instruction for switching the transmission path such that the transmission path passes through a selected physical port, a connection control device that determines whether a communication port of an intermediate communication device that relays communication between the upper network and the lower network and the selected physical port have been connected to each other and acquires, from the intermediate communication device, a number of the communication port connected to the selected physical port, and an information creation device that creates connection information indicating the communication port connected to the selected physical port and updates wiring information indicating connection information for each physical port of the switching device.
Electronically steered inter-satellite optical communication system with micro-electromechanical (MEM) micromirror array (MMA)
Embodiments of a satellite transceiver configurable for inter-satellite communication and configurable for satellite to ground communication are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the satellite transceiver comprises a micro-electromechanical (MEM) micro-mirror array (MMA) (MEM-MMA) configured to steer a beam of encoded optical data over a field-of-view (FOV). The MEM-MMA comprises a plurality of individual mirror elements. Each of the mirror elements is controllable by control circuitry to steer the beam over the FOV.
Optical Link Diagnostic System
An optical links diagnostic system (LDS) and its operation within an optical circuit switch (OCS) for measurement and diagnosis of fiber-optic network fiber performance and quality is disclosed. The LDS can contain two photodetectors, a laser source, and be coupled to an OCS. Optical circulators can further be linked to the OCS. The LDS can be used both as an optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) or as an optical return loss (ORL) meter and can automate the diagnosis of the fiber optical network fiber insertion loss and return loss.