System and apparatus for dropping and adding optical data streams in an optical communication network
US7079770B2 · kind B2 · utility
1Cited by
14References
26Claims
0Family size
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 19, 2000 |
| Grant date | Jul 18, 2006 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 22, 2023 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02B6/29395
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A system and apparatus for dropping and adding optical data streams in an optical communication network uses a photonic switching fabric for dropping but not adding optical data streams, and uses a combiner external to this photonic switching fabric for combining passed optical data streams from the photonic switching fabric together with added optical data streams. The added optical data streams are not limited to the wavelengths of the dropped optical data streams. The photonic switching fabric may be a Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS) that uses single-sided mirrors configurable to drop but not add optical data streams.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.