Fiber optic crossbar switch for automatically patching optical signals

Abstract

A system for automatically optically switching fiber optic data signals between a plurality of input optical fibers (10, 11, 12, 13) and selective ones of a plurality of output fibers (56, 56a, 56b, 56c). The system includes optical detectors (14, 16, 18, 20) which are connected to each of the input fibers (10, 11, 12, 13) for converting the optic data signals appearing at the respective input fibers to an RF signal. A plurality of RF to optical signal converters (38, 40, 42, 44a, etc.) are arranged in rows and columns. The output of each of the optical detectors (14, 16, 18 and 20) are each applied to a respective row of optical signal converters (38, 40, 42, 44, etc.) for being converted back to an optical signal when the particular optical signal converter is selectively activated by a DC voltage. These optical signals are then applied via optical fibers (62) to optical detectors (58) which convert the optical signal back to an RF signal which is used for driving the ILDs ( 60). The ILDs (60), in turn, convert the RF signals back to optical signals without any mechanical switching either of the optical signals or the RF signals. The output fibers are connected to the output of the driving ILDs (60).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.