Optical switch assembly and network incorporating same
AssigneeTelefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)
InventorsGianluca Berrettini, Antonella Bogoni, Luca Poti
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An optical switch assembly comprising at least two optical amplifiers (10, 20), means for applying a first input signal to one end of both amplifiers (10, 20) and a second input signal to another end, and means for simultaneously driving one or other of the amplifiers into a saturated state whilst the other is unsaturated such that only the amplifier that is unsaturated provides any significant amplification to the input signals at each end, and means for feeding the amplified output signals from the amplifiers to at least two output nodes such that the two amplifiers (10, 20) are connected to the two output nodes in opposite connections.
Claims8
An optical switch assembly comprising:
- at least two optical amplifiers;
- a first signal path configured to carry a first input signal to a first end of both amplifiers, and a second signal path configured to carry a second input signal to a second end of both amplifiers;
- a driver configured to simultaneously drive at least one of the two optical amplifiers into a saturated state while the other of the two optical amplifiers is in an unsaturated state, such that only the unsaturated amplifier amplifies the input signals at each end;
- and
- a combiner configured to feed the amplified output signals from the amplifiers to at least two output nodes such that the two optical amplifiers are connected to the two output nodes in opposite connections.
A network comprising:
- first and second input signal lines, each carrying a data signal comprising one or more packets of data;
- a switch assembly configured to receive the packets of data, and comprising:
- at least two optical amplifiers;
- a first signal path configured to carry a first data signal to a first end of both amplifiers, and a second signal path configured to carry a second data signal to a second end of both amplifiers;
- a driver configured to simultaneously drive at least one of the two optical amplifiers into a saturated state while the other of the two optical amplifiers is in an unsaturated state, such that only the unsaturated amplifier amplifies the first and second data signals at each end;
- and
- a combiner configured to feed the amplified output signals from the amplifiers to at least two output nodes such that the two optical amplifiers are connected to the two output nodes in opposite connections;
- and
- a generator configured to generate a pump signal and an inverted pump signal, the generator generating signals that have the same frequency as the two input data streams.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.