Optical Circuit Switch With Multi-Core Fibers And Optical Systems Implementing Same
AssigneeGoogle Inc.
InventorsDaoyi Wang, Cedric Fung Lam
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An optical communication system includes a pair of transceivers and an optical circuit switch with multi-core fibers at each port that provides a communication bridge between the pair of transceivers. The transceivers each transmit a forward transmission signal through a first single-core fiber and receives a reverse transmission signal through a second single-core fiber. A fan-in/fan-out device can be positioned between the switch and each transceiver along an optical path. The fan-in/fan-out device is configured to couple the light or transmission signal transmitted through the single-core fiber with a core of a multi-core fiber. The multi-core fiber is further coupled to the port.
Claims20
An optical communication system comprising:
- a forward transmission transceiver and a reverse transmission transceiver in optical communication along an optical path;
- an optical circuit switch (“OCS”) optically coupled to the forward transmission transceiver and the reverse transmission transceiver, the OCS having at least a first optical port and a second optical port, the OCS providing for communication between the forward and reverse transmission transceivers along the optical path;
- a first single-core fiber and a second single-core fiber both coupled to the forward transmission transceiver, the first single-core fiber configured to transmit a forward optical transmission signal received from the forward transmission transceiver to the reverse transmission receiver through the OCS, and the second single-core fiber configured to transmit a reverse optical transmission signal transmitted from the reverse transmission transceiver to the forward transmission transceiver through the OCS;
- a multi-core fiber coupled to the first optical port;
- and
- a fan-in/fan-out device ( “FI/FO device”) further comprising a first collimator and a second collimator aligned with one another along the optical path,
- wherein the FI/FO device is configured to optically couple the forward optical transmission signal transmitted through the first single-core fiber with a core of the multi-core fiber, and
- wherein the first optical port is coupled to the multi-core fiber, and wherein the first optical port is configured to both transmit the forward optical transmission signal received from the first optical port to the second optical port and receive the reverse optical transmission signal transmitted from the second optical port along the optical path.
A micro-electromechanical system (“MEMS”) switch comprising:
- a first optical port;
- a second optical port;
- a first multi-core fiber coupled to the first optical port comprising a first core and a second core;
- a second multi-core fiber coupled to the second optical port comprising a third core and a fourth core;
- a first MEMS die mirror array and a second MEMS die mirror array, each of the first and second MEMS die mirror arrays being optically coupled to the first and second optical ports;
- and
- a first multi-core fiber collimator and a second multi-core fiber collimator optically coupled to the first and second MEMS die mirror arrays,
- wherein the first core of the first multi-core fiber is configured to transmit a forward transmission signal along an optical path through the first optical port to the third core of the second multi-core fiber at the second optical port,
- wherein the third core of the second multi-core fiber is configured to transmit a reverse transmission signal along the optical path through the second optical port to the first core of the first multi-core fiber at the first optical port, and
- wherein a first same mirror in the first MEMS die mirror array and a second same mirror in the second MEMS die mirror array are configured to simultaneously transmit the forward transmission signal and the reverse transmission signal between the first optical port and the second optical port.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.