Lucent Technologies Inc.

At&t Bell Laboratories

Bell Telephone Laboratories

American Telephone & Telegraph Co., At&t Bell Laboratories

At+t Corp.

General Dynamics Advanced Technology Systems, Inc.

Leonard G Cohen

Charles H Henry

Yuan P Li

Lee L Blyler

Rudolf F Kazarinov

Henry H Yaffe

Yan Wang

John Burnette MacChesney

James W Fleming, Jr

Wanda L Mammel

Morton I Schwartz

Gary J Grimes

Edwin Arthur Chandross

Kenneth L Walker

Yiu-Huen Wong

William Alfred Reed

Dietrich Marcuse

David W Johnson, Jr

Martin V Schneider

Jack Harriman Winters

Louis Thomas Manzione

Lawrence J Haas

William George French

John T Krause

Robert A Lieberman

George Frank DeVeau

Brian Charles Moore

John Hegarty

David Brian Patterson

Adolph H Moesle, Jr

Giovanni Barbarossa

Mark E Kuznetsov

Adolph Henry Moesle

James Harold Murdock

Koo Il Kang

Darlene Louise Hart

Ashish M Vengsarker

In accordance with the invention, an optical router for an optical communications system comprises a pair of transmissive Echelle gratings having their grating surfaces coupled by a waveguide grating. The arrangement provides for substantial design freedom in that the dispersive parameters include the shapes of the first and second Echelle gratings as well as the path length difference among the waveguides. Moreover the device eliminates any need for reflective surfaces in the Echelle gratings.

Waveguide grating router employing transmissive Echelle gratings

Multiple function bandwidth management systems. Bandwidth-management systems for an optical network are easily assembled by concatenating a plurality of intelligent, miniaturized, bandwidth-management modules (BMM's) together. The BMM's subdivide the wide available spectrum into narrow band segments. Each individual BMM is designed to overcome loss and optimize dispersion, gain, and power or gain equalization for a few channels at a time. Each device includes optical connectors and filters, as well as any other components necessary to direct the band of optical channels through the device's optical path while passing other optical channels within the spectrum to additional devices which can be connected without disturbing existing bandwidth-management modules. Each BMM also includes a digital control module that operates the BMM in any one of a plurality of selectable operating modes.

Multiple function bandwidth management systems

A computer system and method provide a CAD tool by which application specific optical integrated circuits may be easily and quickly designed. The computer system has a graphical user interface which provides the designer with an empty canvas upon which the user may place selected icons of any one of a plurality of optical devices. The designer can select from any one of a number of interconnects to place an icon of the selected interconnect between two of the optical devices. The characteristics of each optical device or interconnect may be varied from default settings to a desired group of settings. To verify the operation of a designed circuit, the user simply clicks each icon along an optical path and the computer system provides a spectral analysis of optical power versus wavelength for the defied optical path. The user can also design optical chips by selecting and placing end ports into an optical circuit and can then clump or group the entire optical circuit into a single icon representing the chip. The computer system also provides the designer with the ability to group optical chips together to form wafers. The optical circuits, as well as the chips and wafers, may be designed in any one of several manufacturing standards.

Method and system for designing and analyzing optical application

A computer system and method provide a CAD tool by which a mask for an application specific optical integrated circuit, chip, or wafer may be generated both easily and quickly. The method involves the step of receiving the design for an optical circuit with the circuit design including at least one optical component. Each optical component in the optical circuit is defined by one or more geometric shapes, such as a trapezoid, rectangle, or an arcuate polygon. The method further includes the step of retrieving parameters which define the manufacturing standard by which the optical circuit will be fabricated as well as parameters which define the optical components in the optical circuit. Based on the parameters and the geometric shapes, a plot is generated which forms a mask layout for the optical circuit. The mask layout can then be viewed by a graphical editor whereby a designer can receive visual confirmation that the mask layout accurately portrays the desired optical circuit, chip, or wafer.

Method and system for generating a mask layout of an optical integrated

Disclosed is a method for making the transition from a hybrid network into an all fiber network. In the preferred embodiment, the first step is to replace an existing fiber optic/coaxial cable conversion device located at a remote node with an optic distribution device. Secondly, a house optical network unit is installed in a living unit. Finally, a downstream optic fiber is installed between the optic distribution device and the house optical network unit.

Method for upgrading a hybrid fiber coax network to an all fiber network

The present invention includes a system for tracing jumpers used in an exchange to cross-connect optical fibers or wires served by the exchange. The system includes an exchange housing receptacles with optically-encoded data associated with each receptacle or a group of receptacles. The optically-encoded data for a receptacle(s) uniquely identifies the physical location of the receptacle from any other receptacle in the exchange. Likewise, the jumpers each have optically-encoded data formed thereon that uniquely identifies the jumper or jumper end and distinguishes the jumper from any other jumper used in the exchange. If no jumper is to be connected to a particular receptacle, a cover with optically-encoded data can be attached to a receptacle to indicate that no jumper is connected to the receptacle. The system of this invention also includes a handheld optical scanner that can be used by an operator to scan the optically-encoded data associated with a receptacle(s) and the optically-encoded data of a jumper(s) connected to the receptacle(s), and transmits the optically-encoded data signals to a computer of the system of this invention. The computer can generate a display of the physical location of a receptacle(s) in association with the identity of the jumper(s) and connected thereto, so that an operator can diagnose misconnections of the jumpers between receptacles in the exchange.

Labeling and tracing system for jumper used in an exchange

A ribbon array switch in which an input ribbon array comprising a plurality of input optical fibers can be selectively switched to any one of a plurality of output ribbon arrays mounted on an outer periphery of a switch housing. Preferably, the input ribbon is rotated, whereby the input optical fibers will be optically connected to corresponding output optical fibers that make up the output ribbon arrays. Furthermore, the invention features an optical switch architecture including a first stage comprising a fiber switch element and second stage comprising a ribbon array switch element described above. The output optical fibers of the fiber switch element make up the input ribbon array of the ribbon array switch element. The architecture switches an input optical fiber to any one of a plurality of output optical fibers by optically connecting the input optical fiber of the fiber switch element to a selected one of the output optical fibers of the fiber switch element and aligning the input ribbon array of the ribbon array switch element with a selected one of a plurality of output ribbon arrays of the ribbon array switch element. Each output ribbon array comprises a predetermined number of output optical fibers. Accordingly, the output optical fibers of the fiber switch element will be optically connected to corresponding ones of the predetermined number of output optical fibers of the ribbon switch element, and thus the input optical fiber will be optically connected to a desired output optical fiber.

Ribbon array optical switch and optical switch architecture utilizing

A fiber-coax network (30) includes feeder fiber (14) from a central office/headend (10) to a distribution node (32). At the distribution node, the transmissions are routed and distributed via successively a cable-coax node (16), a first PON node (36), and a second PON node (84). Each PON node comprises one or more passive optic component such as an optic splitter or wavelength division multiplexer (WDM). The cable-coax node provides broadcast CATV to subscribers via a coax distribution network (18) having spaced line extension amplifiers (LEAs) (26) in order to service more subscribers. The first PON node (36) provides switched telecommunication services (including ISDN) to subscribers via distribution fibers (38) which terminate at respective optic network units (ONUs) (40) that are co-located with an LEA (26) and connect to the coax distribution network downstream of the LEA (26). The second PON node (84) provides wireless services (including PCS) to subscribers within a predefined geographic area referred to as a microcell (82) via distribution fibers (86) which terminate at respective lightwave microcell transceivers (88) co-located with an LEA (26) and ONU (40). The co-located LEAs (20), ONUs (40), and LMTs are housed in a common multimedia enclosure (94). Further, the health of the network is monitored with fiber sensor loops (52, 62).

Upgradable fiber-coax network

A comb splitting system demultiplexes and/or multiplexes a plurality of optical signal channels at various wavelengths. The comb splitting system has at least two interconnected successive stages of wavelength division multiplexers (WDMs). A WDM of a first stage communicates bands of channels to respective WDMs of the second stage via suitable optical paths. Each of the bands has a plurality of the individual channels that are separated by at least one other of the channels. Each second stage WDM, which is allocated to a particular band, is interconnected to optical paths, each for carrying one or more individual channels. Furthermore, in accordance with a significant feature of the present invention, the bandpasses and bandpass periodicity (free spectral range) associated with the first stage WDM are smaller than the bandpasses and bandpass periodicity associated with the second stage WDMs. The foregoing feature has numerous advantages. The second stage WDMs are less expensive and physically smaller than the first stage WDM. Crosstalk between channels is reduced. The alignment of the WDM passbands with the wavelengths of the transmitters/receivers in a central office is simplified. Later stages of WDMs can tolerate larger fabrication errors, do not require flat passbands and birefringence compensation, and can tolerate full environmental temperature variations without feedback control in the central office.

Comb splitting system and method for a multichannel optical fiber

An optical communication network includes a novel, passive optical component. This component combines the function of a splitter with the function of a wavelength-division multiplexer. These functions are performed in distinct wavelength bands. In one embodiment, the inventive component is made using silicon optical bench technology.

Optical network comprising a compact wavelength-dividing component

An optically switches relatively low power requirements and a relatively broad operating bandwidth. This switch includes a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) optically coupled at respective ends to an input coupler and an output coupler. One arm of the MZI includes a thermo-optic phase shifter. The output coupler is an adiabatic 3-dB coupler. In one embodiment, the input coupler is a Y-branch coupler having one input port. In a second embodiment, the input coupler is an adiabatic 3-dB coupler having two input ports.

Thermally activated optical switch

The occurrence and location of a disturbance in the vicinity of a localized portion of an optical fiber are determined based on the recognition that such a disturbance changes the polarization condition of signals backscattered from the disturbed portion. Thus, multiple consistently polarized optical pulses are applied to an input end of the fiber and only signals of a particular polarization that are backscattered from the disturbed portion are abstracted from the input end. An output signal indicative of the disturbance is generated by processing these backscattered signals in accordance with synchronous detection techniques.

Remote sensing in optical fiber networks by synchronously detecting

An optical communication network includes a fiber-optic terminal system (FOTS) coupled to internal optical waveguides (or fibers) situated within a central office or terminal. These waveguides connect to external optical fibers. A new component is provided for optically coupling the FOTS to the waveguides. This component includes planar waveguides, referred to as 'main waveguides' formed on a substrate. Each main waveguide is coupled at one end to the FOTS and at the other end to an internal waveguide. Monitor waveguides, also formed on the substrate, are used to transmit OTDR signals to the main waveguides. Wavelength-division multiplexers formed on the substrate are used to couple monitor waveguides to corresponding main waveguides with respect to monitor wavelengths but not with respect to signal wavelengths.

Optical communication system with multiple fiber monitoring

An optical communication network includes at least one single-mode fiber, referred to as a 'primary fiber,' for transmission between a central office and a distribution node, and at least one multiplicity of single-mode fibers, referred to as 'distribution fibers,' for transmission between the distribution node and a multiplicity of optical network units (ONUs). Transmissions are exchanged between the primary and distribution fibers via at least one optical coupler located at the distribution node. The network is passive in the sense that all monitoring of the transmission media and the ONUs can be performed at the central office, without active intervention at remote locations. The network includes a monitor and a multiplicity of bypass lines by means of which at least a portion of inbound signals from the distribution fibers are transmitted to the monitor without passing through the optical coupler at the distribution node.

Passive optical communication network with broadband upgrade

We describe an interferometric, channel-dropping, optical filter that includes a pair of planar waveguides. The two waveguides are spaced apart by a distance which is periodically varied along the longitudinal axis of the filter in order to effect a periodic optical coupling between them. There are at least three coupling locations, each associated with a coupling constant. The two waveguides have nominally equal effective refractive indices. In preferred embodiments of the invention, the coupling constants decrease symmetrically from the center of the filter toward the ends.

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Berkeley Heights, NJ, United States of America

Leonard G Cohen