US 7,606,500 B2Granted

Scalable transceiver based repeater

AssigneeFinisar Corporation

InventorRuldolf J. Hofmeister

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Abstract

Systems and methods for repeating optical signals. A scalable transceiver based repeater includes one or more transceivers. Each transceiver includes an optical receiver that receives a channel of an optical signal. The optical transmitter in each transceiver transmits the channel received by the associated optical receiver. A switch is used to redirect the channels, which may be in an electrical form at the switch, from the optical receivers back to the optical transmitters. The switch can also be used to add/drop the channels from the repeater. The optical transmitter and/or the optical receiver of each transceiver may also include a clock/data recovery circuit (CDR). The repeater is scalable because transceivers can be added/replaced as needed. A demultiplexor can separate an optical signal into the channels that are received by the optical receivers. A multiplexor combines the channels generated by the optical transmitters.

Claims17

Dependent claims

In an optical network that carries an optical signal, the optical signal including one or more channels, a repeater for repeating the optical signal in the optical network, the repeater comprising:

a first transceiver comprising:
an optical receiver adapted to convert a particular channel in the optical signal to an electrical signal;
and
an optical transmitter adapted to convert the electrical signal back to the particular channel such that the particular channel is repeated on the optical network;
and
a plurality of receptacles each being configured to removably receive a transceiver such that a first one of the receptacles is configured to removably receive the first transceiver;
and
an electrical switch that is electrically connected with the first transceiver, wherein the switch is configured at least to direct the electrical signal from the optical receiver in the first transceiver back to an optical transmitter in the first transceiver,
and wherein, in a first configuration of the repeater, the electrical switch includes an unused electrical path from the electrical switch to a second one of the plurality of receptacles in which a second transceiver is physically removed such that the electrical switch includes capacity to direct more signals than the repeater is configured to receive.

6 more elements

In a system that transmits optical signals, a scalable repeater that can repeat one or more of the channels in an optical signal, the scalable repeater comprising:

one or more receptacles mounted on a base, each receptacle configured to removably receive a transceiver;
at least one transceiver mounted in one of the receptacles, wherein the at least one transceiver receives a channel from an optical signal received by the scalable repeater;
a first clock and data recover (CDR) circuit that recovers a clock and data from the received channel;
a switching module that is configured to direct the received channel back to the at least one transceiver or drop the received channel from the optical signal;
and
a second CDR circuit that retimes the channel and resets a jitter of the channel before the channel is repeated by a transmitter portion of the at least one transceiver;
wherein, in a first configuration of the scalable repeater, the switching module includes an unused electrical path from the switching module to a second one of the plurality of receptacles in which a second transceiver is physically removed such that the switching module includes capacity to direct or drop more channels than the scalable repeater is configured to receive.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 10/909,614Filed 2 Aug 2004 · us provisional application
Priority: 30 Apr 2004
Published: US 2005/0244165 A13 Nov 2005
Granted: 20 Oct 2009
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification4 codes

H04J 14/0201
Wavelength-division multiplex systems: add-and-drop multiplexing
H04B 10/29
Transmission systems employing electromagnetic waves other than radio-waves, e.g. infrared, visible or ultraviolet light, or employing…
H04J
Multiplex communication
H04B
Transmission