Ii-vi Delaware, Inc.

Ii-vi Incorporated

Aravanan Gurusami

Timothy K Zahnley

Martin Richard Williams

Deepak Devicharan

Ian Peter McClean

Scott R Dahl

Eric Timothy Green

Mark H Garrett

Massimo Martinelli

Yajun Wang

Thomas W McNamara

Michael J L Cahill

Siegfried Fleischer

Mike Burgess

Ruipeng Sun

Nadhum Kadhum Zayer

Mark Filipowicz

Manish Sharma

Brian Daniel

Bradley Dailey

A colorless mux/demux cable assembly, including a first fiber optic cable, a second fiber optic cable, and a main body that includes an N:1 optical combiner and a 1:N optical splitter. The N:1 optical combiner is configured to combine individual optical signals received by each of N input fibers of the second fiber optic cable and provide a combined output signal to an output fiber of the first fiber optic cable. The 1:N optical splitter is configured to split a combined input optical signal (having N wavelength channels) received via an input fiber of the first fiber optic cable and provide a split output signal comprising each of the N wavelength channels to each of N output fibers of the second fiber optic cable.

Colorless splitter/combiner cable assembly

A system for communicating supervisory information between amplifier nodes in an optical communication network utilizes modulation of an included pump source to superimpose the supervisory information on data signals (typically customer data signals) propagating between the amplifier nodes transmitted customer signals. The modulated pump appears as a modulated envelope on the amplified data signal exiting the amplifier node, and may be recovered by suitable demodulation components located at the second node (i.e., the destined receiver of the supervisory information). The supervisory information may include monitoring messages, provisioning data, protocol updates, etc., and is utilized as an input to an included modulator, which then forms a drive signal for the pump controller.

Pump modulation for optical amplifier link communication

A fiber-based master optical power amplifier (MOPA) is configured to utilize a pump source that operates in pulse mode with the arrival time of the pump pulses coordinated with the arrival time of the input pulses. The width of the pump pulses is also controlled, thus providing a mechanism for controlling both the amount of pump energy injected into the fiber amplifier, as well as the overlap in time between the pump pulse and the seed pulse. As the pulse repetition interval (PRI) of the input seed pulse changes, the timing of the pump pulses and their width are also changed so that a 'constant gain' environment is created within the amplifying medium, providing an essentially constant energy output pulse, regardless of differences in ASE generated during different PRIs.

Master oscillator power amplifier

Modules for optical time-domain reflectometry (OTDR) are connected via at least one fiber link of a fiber optic communication network. The modules can perform OTDR operations on the at least one fiber link. In addition, the modules can establish an inter-node communication channel between each other on the at least one fiber link. The channel allows the OTDR modules to synchronize their OTDR operations and to exchange information, such as OTDR traces, between each other.

Dual-direction OTDR system for inter-node communications

The present disclosure generally relates to devices, which may be used in communication or optoelectronic modules for example, suitable for arrayed positioning of a plurality of fiber optical components. In one form, an optoelectronic module includes a printed circuit board (PCB) and at least one optical component array device including an array of laterally or radially spaced receptacles configured to receive an optical component. One or more of the receptacles includes a fused fiber optical component positioned therein. A recursive fiber may extend between an output of a first fused fiber optical component and an input of a second fused fiber optical component, and an optical fiber routing member may be coupled to the PCB and include a plurality of guides extending away from the PCB and defining a pathway for routing optical fibers relative to the PCB.

Optical component array devices

A system and method for communicating supervisory information between amplifier nodes in an optical communication network utilizes modulation of an included pump source to superimpose the supervisory information on through-transmitted customer signals (or ASE associated with the amplifier if no customer traffic is present). The supervisory information (which may include monitoring messages, provisioning data, protocol updates, and the like) is utilized as an input to an included modulator, which then forms a drive signal for the pump controller. In a preferred embodiment, binary FSK modulation is used.

A pluggable bidirectional optical amplifier module may include preamp and booster optical amplifiers and a housing. The preamp optical amplifier may be configured to amplify optical signals traveling in a first direction. The booster optical amplifier may be configured to amplify optical signals traveling in a second direction. The housing may at least partially enclose the preamp optical amplifier and the booster optical amplifier. The pluggable bidirectional optical amplifier module may have a mechanical form factor that is compliant with a pluggable communication module form factor MSA. A colorless mux/demux cable assembly may be operated with the pluggable bidirectional optical amplifier. The colorless mux/demux cable assembly may include a 1:N optical splitter a N:1 optical combiner coupled side-by-side to the 1:N optical splitter, a first fiber optic cable optic cable, and a second fiber optic cable.

Pluggable optical amplifier for datacenter interconnects

An OTDR system utilizes a laser source that is turned 'on' and kept powered until its light reaches the end of the fiber span being measured (i.e., until the fiber span is fully illuminated). At any point in time after the fiber is fully illuminated, the laser source can be turned 'off'. The return (reflected and backscattered) signal is directed into a photodetector of the OTDR, and is measured from the point in time when the fiber span starts to be illuminated. The measurements are made by sampling the return signal at predetermined time intervals&#x2014;defined as the sampling rate. The created power samples are then subjected to post-processing in the form of a differentiation operation to create a conventional OTDR trace from the collected data.

Edge propagating optical time domain reflectometer and method of using the same

An optical amplifier module is configured as a multi-stage free-space optics arrangement, including at least an input stage and an output stage. The actual amplification is provided by a separate fiber-based component coupled to the module. A propagating optical input signal and pump light are provided to the input stage, with the amplified optical signal exiting the output stage. The necessary operations performed on the signal within each stage are provided by directing free-space beams through discrete optical components. The utilization of discrete optical components and free-space beams significantly reduces the number of fiber splices and other types of coupling connections required in prior art amplifier modules, allowing for an automated process to create a 'pluggable' optical amplifier module of small form factor proportions.

Optical amplifier module

A doped fiber amplifier (e.g., an erbium-doped fiber amplifier&#x2014;EDFA) module is configured to include metrology functionality for performing real-time measurements of the fiber spans connected to the EDFA. In one embodiment, a separate component utilized to perform optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) measurements is embedded with the EDFA module. The OTDR measurement component includes its own laser source and detector, which are used to analyze the input and output fiber spans associated with the EDFA. In another embodiment, the pump laser of the EDFA is also used as the optical probe light source for the OTDR component, where the source is either 'switched' or 'shared' between performing amplification and providing OTDR measurements. In yet another embodiment, a &#x201c;dual pump&#x201d; source is included with the OTDR component itself and modified to utilize one laser for amplification and the other for OTDR purposes.

Rare earth-doped fiber amplifier with integral optical metrology functionality

An arrangement for providing real-time, in-service OTDR measurements in an optical communication system utilizing distributed Raman amplification. One or more of the laser diodes used to provide the pump light necessary to create optical gain is modified to also generate short duration pulses that ride above or below the conventional pump light. These short duration pulses (which co-exist with the pump light within the optical fiber) are used in performing OTDR measurements, with a conventional processing system used to evaluate reflected pulses and create the actual OTDR measurements.

In-service optical time domain reflectometry utilizing raman pump source

An optical switch is configured in a 'dual-ganged' switch geometry to provide for the simultaneous switching of a selected transmit/receive pair of optical signal paths between a specific optical communication device and an optical communication network. A biaxially-symmetric signal redirection component may be used to direct the signals between the selected channel and the optical communication device. A specific waveguide (e.g., fiber) array topology within the dual-ganged switch (DGS) breaks the symmetry between the network transmit/receive arrays and a pair of transmit and receive signal paths associated with the communication device to improve isolation and minimize the possibility of cross-talk between non-selected waveguides in the transmit and receive arrays. The possibility of 'hits' during switching between channels can be eliminated, and is controlled by dictating the process or switching steps used to rotate the biaxially-symmetric signal redirection element.

Growing community of inventors

Morgan Hill, CA, United States of America

Aravanan Gurusami