Loading patent…
AssigneeBritish Telecommunications public limited company
InventorsJulie Burton, Philip J. Fiddyment, Michael J. Robertson
Estimating the term…
A semiconductor optical switching device comprises a passive optical input stage, a matrix stage and a passive optical output stage. The matrix stage incorporates active amplifiers, the switch as a whole being therefore part passive and part active. Control over the switching configuration is provided by electrical inputs to the amplifiers. The matrix stage guides optical signals in a direction transverse to optical signals propagating in the input or output stages. With this configuration, fixed change in direction of the optical paths available to optical signals propagating through the device are provided by splitters, combiners and total internal reflection mirrors.
A semiconductor optical switching device comprising passive optical input and output stages, each having respectively a plurality of inputs and outputs, and a matrix stage, one or more inputs being selectively-coupled to one or more outputs via the matrix stage to provide selective routing for optical signals input to the device, the material of the device in the matrix stage being at least in part active so that said selective routing can be controlled by control inputs to the matrix stage wherein the propagation direction of optical signals in both the input and output stages of the device is substantially the same, and said direction is substantially different from the propagation direction of optical signals in the active part of the matrix.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.