Optical wavelength add/drop multiplexer
US6545783B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 22, 1999 |
| Grant date | Apr 8, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 22, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04Q2011/0035
- WIPO fieldTelecommunications
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An optical wavelength add/drop multiplexer provides communications between two optical links supporting wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). A wavelength slicer spatially separates the input signal into two sets of channels. An optical filter, such as an interference filter, spatially separates the a subset of the input channels into an array of separated channels. A programmable optical add/drop switch array selectively routes channels from an array of input ports to an array of drop ports, substitutes channels from an array of add ports in place of the dropped channels, and routes the remaining input channels and added channels to an array of output ports. The channels from the output ports of the said add/drop switch array are then combined and transmitted into the second optical link. A network of wavelength slicers can be used to spatially separate the input signal into a larger number of sets of channels that can either be accessed by a number of add/drop switch arrays, or passed unchanged as “express lanes” to the second optical link. In an alternative embodiment, a circulated drop filter consisting of an optical circulator and a series of fiber Bragg gratings…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.