Lucent Technologies Inc.

Luc Boivin

Martin C Nuss

Wayne Harvey Knox

Jason Blain Stark

Robert D Feldman

Jiten Sarathy

An optical switch comprises a programmable optical polarization unit (POLCON) which receives an input optical signal and selects an output signal polarization in response to a control signal. A polarization beam splitter (PBS) splits the selected polarization signal from the POLCON into a first and second orthogonally polarized signals. A feedback circuit couples a feedback signal indicative of the optical signal strength of at least one of the orthogonally polarized signals back to the POLCON which uses it to adjust the output signal polarization. The optical switch may be used with input optical signals having fixed or varying polarizations by utilizing a single or two feedback signals, respectively. The optical switch may be used as an optical Add/Drop unit or incorporated as part of a wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) signal Add/Drop unit.

Programmable optical switch apparatus

A high-capacity, chirped-pulse wavelength-division multiplexed communications apparatus and method in which a chirped-pulse, wavelength-division multiplexed signal is further optically multiplexed thereby enhancing bit rates per channel. A multifrequency optical source for supplying an optical signal having a number of wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) channels; a power splitter for splitting the optical signal from the multifrequency source into a number of signals; a number of time delay lines, for delaying each one of the signals independently; a number of data encoding modulators for modulating each one of the delayed signals; and a power combiner for combining the number of delayed, modulated signals into a single signal such that the multifrequency optical source signal is multiplexed by a desired amount.

High capacity chirped-pulse wavelength-division multiplexed

Low-noise, bidirectional communications in a fiber optic cable is achieved by coupling a first end of the cable to an optical power source having an inherently broad spectral width. A second end of the cable is coupled to an optical detector having a detector bandwidth, such that the bandwidth of the optical power source is greater than the detector bandwidth. When the bandwidth of the optical power source is large compared to the bandwidth of the detector, the beat frequencies resulting from coherent Rayleigh noise fall outside the bandwidth of the detector and are not detected.

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Eatontown, NJ, United States of America

Luc Boivin