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AssigneeLucent Technologies Inc.
InventorsChristopher Richard Doerr, Corrado Pietro Dragone, Alastair Malcolm Glass, Ivan P. Kaminow
Estimating the term…
A programmable broadband N×N cross-connect switch includes an N×N wavelength coupler combined with N tunable lasers, N modulators and N optical receivers. Each of the N tunable lasers can selectively produce N different wavelengths. The coupler couples the N wavelengths to the N modulators. The N modulators modulate the N wavelengths using N input electrical signals, each modulator being selectable by choosing a laser wavelength. The N optical receivers receive and detect the N modulated wavelengths to produce N output electrical signals therefrom, each receiver receiving and detecting a different one of the N different wavelengths. By selecting a laser wavelength a particular modulator and receiver is selected so that a modulated signal, formed at the selected modulator when an input electrical signal modulates the selected wavelength, is switched to the selected receiver.
A broadband electronic N×N cross-connect switch comprising
The broadband electronic N×N cross-connect switch of claim wherein each of the first and second coupling units is a mirror image of the other, so that a set of paths from a particular laser all connect to the same receiver and any modulator in one of the paths can be selected by selecting one each of said Na and Nb controls.
A method of operating a broadband electronic N×N cross-connect switch, comprising the steps of
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.