Laser safety method for DC coupled parallel optical link
US6798990B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 9, 2001 |
| Grant date | Sep 28, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 2, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04B10/40
- WIPO fieldTelecommunications
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus are provided to ensure that laser optical power does not exceed a “safe” level in a DC coupled open loop parallel optical link in the event that a fiber optic ribbon cable is broken or otherwise severed. A duplex parallel optical link includes a transmitter and receiver pair and a fiber optic ribbon that includes a designated number N of channels that cannot be split. The duplex transceiver includes a corresponding transmitter and receiver that are physically attached to each other and cannot be detached therefrom, so as to ensure safe, laser optical power in the event that the fiber optic ribbon cable is broken or severed. Safe optical power is ensured by redundant current and voltage safety checks, and the corresponding low duty cycle signal is generated by a safety pulse generator in the safety channel.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.