University of Ottawa

Pts Corporation

Altera Corporation

Nortel Networks Corporation

Harvard College

Northern Telecom Limited

Hanan Anis

Jonathan L Bosloy

John Gerald Gruber

Francois Boudreault

Sangeeta Murugkar

Daniel Levner

Maurice M O'Sullivan

Kim Byron Roberts

Xiaoliang Sunney Xie

Conor L Evans

Jingming Xu

Reza Paiam

Ross Saunders

Rejean Munger

Gordon Harney

Rajkumar Nagarajan

Andrew Robinson

Toshi Makino

Sacha Corbeil

Neil Lagali

Peter Stys

S Richard Pramod

Raza Paiam

Majid Naji

Altaf Khetani

Ivan Avrutsky

Sunney Xie

A miniaturized imaging system is provided that operates in multiple modes, including a coherent anti-stokes Raman scattering (CARS) mode. The imaging system includes: a laser delivery subsystem that generates an excitation signal; a scanning mechanism configured to receive the excitation signal from the laser delivery subsystem and direct the excitation signal through an optics subsystem onto a sample, such that the optics subsystem compensates for chromatic aberration in the excitation signal; and a dichroic mirror that receives emission from the sample in a backward direction and directs the emission along a collection path to a detector. The light source for the laser delivery subsystem may be a single femtosecond pulse laser.

Miniaturized multimodal cars endoscope

A method is provided for routing optical signals in an optical transport network. The method includes: separating an incoming optical multiplexed signal having a plurality of wavelength-channels embodied therein into two or more channel groups, where each channel group has a subset of the wavelength-channels and channels to be routed hitlessly in a given channel group are adjacent to a channel free region; providing a wavelength selective element for each wavelength-channel to be routed hitlessly; and routing a given wavelength-channel by tuning the corresponding wavelength selective element to either the given wavelength-channel or a channel free region adjacent to the given wavelength-channel. Providing a channel free region next to each channel to be routed allows the use of inexpensive tunable elements, which typically cause hits as they tune, to effect hitless routing.

Method and apparatus for hitless routing of optical signals in an optical transport network

A method is provided for biosensing using a photonic crystal fiber having a hollow core. The method includes: designating an analyte of interest; determining a wavelength for an excitation light source which generates a Raman spectrum when incident upon the analyte of interest; selecting a photonic crystal fiber that would guide the light when the fiber is non-selectively filled with a solvent hosting the analyte of interest; non-selectively filling a photonic crystal fiber with the solvent hosting the analyte of interest; interrogating the analyte of interest by coupling light from the light source to the photonic crystal fiber; and analyzing the light output from the photonic crystal fiber for Raman fingerprints.

Method for using a photonic crystal fiber as a Raman biosensor

The invention provides a unified optical network architecture for metro and access communication networks, wherein a metro ring network interfaces access PONs through one or more reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers to provide wavelength-reconfigurable all-optical transmission of communication signals from the metro ring network to designated optical network units associated with the end-users, and wherein one metro hub located in the metro ring network is utilized to set transmission wavelengths and timing for both downstream and upstream signal transmission for multiple access PONs.

Wavelength reconfigurable optical network

The invention provides a system and method for automatic real-time monitoring for the presence of a pathogen in water using coherent anti-stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy. Water sample trapped in a trapping medium is provided to a CARS imager. CARS images are provided to a processor for automatic analyzing for the presence of image artifacts having pre-determined features characteristic to the pathogen. If a match is found, a CARS spectrum is taken and compared to a stored library of reference pathogen-specific spectra for pathogen identification. The system enables automatic pathogen detection in flowing water in real time.

Pathogen detection using coherent anti-stokes Raman scattering microscopy

A method is provided for seamless migration from a scaleable optical add/drop multiplexer to a network switching node in an optical transport network. The method includes: providing a pre-deployed optical add/drop multiplexer (OADM) at a network node in the optical transport network; introducing an additional optical add/drop multiplexer (OADM) at the network node; and interconnecting the pre-deployed OADM to the additional OADM using a photonic cross-connect switch, where the photonic cross-connect switch is operable to route optical signals amongst the optical transport lines connected to the pre-deployed OADM and the upgraded OADM.

Method of seamless migration from scaleable OADM to a network switching node

An iterative process is used to set the phase prechirp of a WDM optical transport system to a system's optimal level that maximizes the signal quality. A signal degradation factor takes into account linear and non-linear effects along the optical path and is used as a receive end feedback signal to control the phase prechirp level at the transmitter site. By using the FEC corrected errors rate as the feedback signal, optimization of signal quality is performed even when the system is running error free. By using an adaptive phase prechirp transmitter, signal degradation compensation can be also performed on a per wavelength basis to compensate for the residual dispersion slope and to allow optimization of individual channels independently of the net link dispersion value. This method provides more flexibility when using optical switching in core networks, as it allows path optimization to new physical link connectivity, without requiring any change to the optical components such that, significant signal degradation tuning range for a WDM optical transport system is provided.

Method of adaptive signal degradation compensation

A method is provided for seamless migration from static to agile optical networking at a network switching node in an optical transport network. The seamless method includes: providing an optical signal splitter at the input of thenetwork switching node, the signal splitter being adapted to receive an optical multiplexed signal having a plurality of data signals and at least one data signal being agile; providing an optical signal combiner at the output of the network switching node; and introducing a photonic cross-connect switch between the signal splitter and the signal combiner, where the photonic switch is operable to switch the agile data signals.

Method of seamless migration from static to agile optical networking

A sub-harmonic clock signal is provided in a series of soliton optical pulses that are transmitted at a given line rate in a soliton optical transmission system. The line rate defines time slots of equal duration. Each soliton optical pulse in every N time slots is modulated in a manner to make the pulse distinguishable from pulses in other time slots. The frequency of the sub-harmonic clock signal is equal to the line rate divided by N. This technique of providing a clock signal allows simple recovery of the clock signal using a PIN diode photo detector and a bandpass filter of appropriate bandwidth.

Method and apparatus for communicating a clock signal in a soliton optical transmission system

A superimposed grating tunable WDM semiconductor laser is provided comprising a grating structure is a binary superimposed grating comprising a plurality of segments of equal dimension, s, each segment having one of two values of refractive index, whereby the grating structure is provided by a binary modulation of the refractive index modulation of segments s along the length of the grating. Thus, for a superimposed grating structure for an optoelectronic device for providing a spectrum comprising j reflection peaks at wavelengths .lambda..sub.j, the grating comprising a binary superimposed grating (BSG) having a sequence of a plurality of segments of equal size s, each segment of the sequence having a refractive index of one of two values wherein the effective waveguide index of the ith segment n.sub.i.sup.0 (.lambda.) is allowed to be changed by .DELTA.n.multidot.(m-1/2) with m=1 or m=0: ##EQU1## where i=1,2,3 . . . is the segment number, for digital position i.multidot.s, n.sup.0 (.lambda.) is a waveguide effective index, including both waveguide and material dispersion, and the function f(x) is a weighted sum of sinusoidal functions of desirable period .LAMBDA..sub.j ##EQU2## and, periods .LAMBDA..sub.j relate to the spectral positions of reflection peaks .lambda..sub.j through the waveguide index n.sup.0 (.lambda.)

Superimposed grating WDM tunable lasers

Growing community of inventors

Kanata, Canada

Hanan Anis