Patent · US Expired

Free-space/arrayed-waveguide router

US6263127A · kind A · utility

77Cited by
1References
14Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 13, 1999
Grant dateJul 17, 2001
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 13, 2019

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04Q2011/0032
  • WIPO fieldOptics
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A router combines free-space and guided wave optics to drastically increase the number of channels used in WDM transmission systems. The two-stage router uses the partial demultiplexing characteristic of an arrayed waveguide router (AWR) combined with a free-space optical router to fully demultiplex an input WDM signal. The two-stage router can be used to obtain output wavelength signals in either one- or two-dimensional arrays.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.