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US 4,859,012 AGranted
Optical interconnection networks
AssigneeTexas Instruments Incorporated
InventorRobert W. Cohn
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Multichannel interconnection networks with optical deformable mirror devices as the reconfigurable switching element.
Claims9
A reconfigurable optical interconnection network, comprising:
- (a) an array of N inputs, each of said inputs emitting a light beam
- (b) a deformable mirror device with N rows and K columns of pixels;
- (c) a first set of lenses directing each of said light beams onto one of said rows of pixels;
- (d) an array of K outputs;
- (e) a second set of lenses directing that portion of each of said light beams reflecting off of undeflected ones of said pixels in one of said columns onto one of said outputs, and directing that portion of each of said light beams reflecting off of deflected ones of said pixels away from said outputs;
- and
- (f) a controller determining the deflections of said pixels.
4 more elements
A bundle of optical fibers, comprising:
- (a) a plurality of optical fibers, each of said fibers with a core of diameter d and cladding about said core to form a total diameter of D;
- (b) said fibers arranged as a stack of staggered rows of n fibers in each row, the stagger of each row such that the centers of the cores of adjacent fibers in a row are displaced by a distance D/n in the direction of the stack.
A reconfigurable optical interconnection network, comprising:
- (a) an array of N inputs, each of said inputs emitting a light beam;
- (b) a deformable mirror device with N rows and K columns of pixels;
- (c) a first set of lenses directing each of said light beams onto one of said rows of pixels;
- (d) an array of K outputs;
- (e) a controller determining the deflections of said pixels with all pixels in a row having the same deflection;
- and
- (f) a second set of lenses directing that portion of each of said light beams reflecting off of deflected ones of said pixels to said outputs, said outputs located in the diffraction plane of said second set.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.