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US 6,714,702 B2Granted
Optical demultiplexing system and method
AssigneeNortel Networks Limited
InventorsJames E Whiteaway, Andrew J Collar, Stephen Day
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An optical demultiplexer has a coarse filter 41,43,45 and a plurality of arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs) 49 connected to respective outputs of the coarse filter 41,43,45. The AWGs are of like design with a plurality of configurations and are arranged to have a configuration corresponding to be frequency range output on the respective output. The device can be used in WDM systems.
Claims20
An optical system, comprising:
- an optical splitter for splitting an input optical signal between optical outputs;
- and
- a plurality of demultiplexers of like design, each demultiplexer having a plurality of input guides and a plurality of output guides, each input guide having a predetermined and different frequency range for which optical signals input into the input guide are divided between the plurality of output guides according to frequency;
- wherein the optical outputs of the optical splitter are connected to respective demultiplexers through input guides having a plurality of different predetermined frequency ranges.
1 more element
An optical system for optical processing of an optical signal divided into a plurality of predetermined groups of channels, comprising:
- a plurality of optical outputs, each optical output outputting signals in a respective frequency range that corresponds to a predetermined group of channels;
- a plurality of demultiplexers of like design, each demultiplexer having a plurality of input guides and a plurality of output guides, each input guide having a predetermined and different frequency range for which optical signals input into the input guide are divided between the plurality of output guides according to frequency;
- wherein the optical outputs are connected to respective demultiplexers, each optical output connected to the respective demultiplexer through an input guide having a predetermined frequency range corresponding to the frequency of the respective frequency range of the optical output.
A node for an optical telecommunications system including an optical demultiplexer comprising:
- a coarse filter having a plurality of optical outputs, each optical output outputting signals in a respective frequency range;
- a plurality of demultiplexers of like design, each demultiplexer having a plurality of input guides and a plurality of output guides, each input guide having a predetermined and different frequency range for which optical signals input into the input guide are divided between the plurality of output guides according to frequency;
- wherein the optical outputs are connected to respective demultiplexers, each optical output connected to the respective demultiplexer through an input guide having a predetermined frequency range corresponding to the frequency of the respective frequency range of the optical output.
An optical telecommunications system comprising:
- a transmission node providing a WDM optical signal;
- a receiving node for receiving the WDM optical signal;
- and
- an optical fiber connecting the transmission and receiving nodes;
- wherein the receiving node includes:
- an optical demultiplexer for demultiplexing the WDM signal including a coarse filter having a plurality of optical outputs, each optical output outputting signals in a respective frequency range, and
- a plurality of demultiplexers of like design, each demultiplexer having a plurality of input guides and a plurality of output guides, each input guide having a predetermined and different frequency range for which optical signals input into the input guide are divided between the plurality of output guides according to frequency,
- wherein the optical outputs are connected to respective demultiplexers, each optical output connected to the respective demultiplexer through an input guide having a predetermined frequency range corresponding to the frequency of the respective frequency range of the optical output.
5 more elements
A method of processing an optical signal, including:
- processing the optical signal in a number of broad frequency bands;
- supplying each of the broad frequency bands to an input guide of one of a plurality of like arrayed waveguide gratings having a plurality of input guides and a plurality of output guides, each input guide having a predetermined and different frequency range for which optical signals input into the input guide are divided between the plurality of output guides according to frequency,
- wherein each broad frequency band is input into an input guide corresponding to the broad frequency band so that the broad frequency bands are split into a plurality of narrow frequency bands and output on respective output guides.
A method of manufacturing an optical demultiplexer, including:
- connecting to each output of a coarse filter for dividing an optical signal into a number of broad frequency bands an optical switch for switching the optical signal between one of a input guides of an arrayed waveguide grating having a plurality of output guides, each input guide having a predetermined and different frequency range for which optical signals input into the input guide are divided between the plurality of output guides according to frequency;
- and
- configuring the switches such that the configuration of the arrayed waveguide grating connected to each of the plurality of outputs of the coarse filter in ascending frequency order is cyclical.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.