Apparatus and method for testing fibers in a PON
AssigneeAlcatel Lucent
InventorsJoseph L. Smith, Ronald Heron
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A manner of providing for testing of access fibers in a PON (passive optical network) using OTDR (optical time-domain reflectometry). According to the invention, a PON includes an optical splitter module having one or more optical couplers that combines downstream light from 1×N optical splitter directing the output of an OLT (optical line terminal) and a cyclic AWG (arrayed waveguide grating) for transmission toward one or more ONUs (optical network units). The splitter module is preferably formed on a single semiconductor chip, such as a PIC (photonic integrated circuit) chip and may reside in an outside plant of the PON.
Claims20
A splitter module for a PON (passive optical network), comprising:
- an optical splitter;
- an OTDR transmitter comprising a light source
- a cyclic AWG (arrayed waveguide grating);
- and
- at least one WDM coupler for optically coupling an optical splitter communication link and a cyclic AWG communication link, wherein the at least one WDM coupler is situated downstream of both the optical splitter and the cyclic AWG.
A PON, comprising:
- an OLT
- an OTDR transmitter;
- an OTDR detector;
- and
- a splitter module comprising:
- an optical splitter;
- a cyclic AWG;
- and
- at least one WDM coupler situated between the optical splitter and an access fiber of the PON;
- wherein the OTDR detector, the optical splitter, the cyclic AWG, and the at least one WDM coupler are formed on a single semiconductor chip.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.