Molex Corporation

Oplink Communications, Inc.

Tian Zhu

Lifu Gong

Hongwei Mao

Gongjian Hu

Guijun Ji

Yi Liao

Jinyuan Qiao

Zhongsheng Wang

Kun Liu

Jian Liu

Haifeng Lv

Yu Hu

Kun Lu

Fengqing Zhou

An optical amplifier includes an input port for receiving an input optical signal; a wavelength division multiplexer () having a first input coupled to the input port, a second input coupled to a pump source (), and an output coupled to an amplification fiber (); and an integrated component () configured to provide output monitoring and isolation, wherein the integrated component () is configured to separate a first portion of a light signal received from the amplification fiber (), direct the first portion to a photo detector, direct a second portion of the input light from the amplification fiber () to an output port, and attenuate light signals received from the output port.

Optical amplifier

Various methods, systems, and apparatuses, for optical switching are provided. For example, one wavelength selective switch (WSS) includes a plurality of optical ports wherein one or more optical ports are configured to receive one or more input optical beams the one or more input optical beams having a plurality of wavelength channels and wherein one or more of the optical ports are configured to receive one or more wavelength channels of the plurality of wavelength channels for output. The WSS also includes a polarization conditioning assembly, a polarization beam splitter assembly, a direction dependent polarization rotator, a polarization beam splitter, a grating, and a polarization modulator array having a plurality of polarizing modulation cells, each cell configured to independently change a polarization orientation of an optical beam passing through the cell.

Wavelength selective switch

A dynamic gain equalizer (DGE) for an optical communication device and related method which are capable of reducing power variations among wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) signals. The DGE and method use an optical attenuation device configured such that the ratio of pixel gap distance to the channel beam diameter at the point of incident to the optical attenuation device is less than or equal to 0.06. The DGE can produce output signal sets that have ripple increases of less than 0.1 db over the input signal sets.

Dynamic gain equalizer

A wavelength selective switch includes a plurality of optical ports, a polarization conditioning system, a dispersion system, and a switching system. The switching system includes at least one transmissive stage and a reflective polarization modulator. Each transmissive stage has a transmissional polarization modulator and a symmetrical beam polarization separator. The transmissional polarization modulator includes transmissive first cells each being configured to change a polarization orientation of an optical beam passing through the cell. The symmetrical beam polarization separator is configured to redirect the optical beam passing therethrough based upon its polarization. The reflective polarization modulator includes a birefringence section and a reflective section. The birefringence section includes controllable second cells each being configured to convert linear polarization of an optical beam passing therethrough to circular polarization and to independently and selectively convert circular polarization of the optical beam passing through the second cell to linear polarization.

Apparatus for optical switching with transmissional and reflective polarization modulators

An optical communication device and related method are provided for reducing power variations among wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) signals. The device includes a dynamic gain equalizer (DGE) coupled to an optical communication path carrying WDM optical signals. The DGE is controlled in response to signals generated by an optical channel monitor (OCM). The OCM monitors signals coming into the DGE and monitors the signals leaving the DGE to thus monitor the WDM spectrum for optical signal power variations and adjust the DGE to reduce the signal power variations.

Optical communication system utilizing intelligent dynamic gain equalizer device

Methods, systems, and apparatus for optical wavelength selective switching. One 2&#xd7;2 wavelength selective switch array includes a plurality of optical input ports configured to receive one or more optical input beams, and a plurality of optical output ports configured to receive one or more one or more optical output beams wherein the plurality of optical input ports and optical output ports form an array of 2&#xd7;2 optical port pairs; one or more optical conditioning and wavelength dispersion elements; a polarization modulator array having a plurality of polarizing modulation cells, each cell configured to independently change a polarization orientation of an optical beam passing through the cell and associated with a particular wavelength channel; and a polarization-selective beam-routing optical element configured to route each particular input beam to either a first output port or a second output port according to polarization orientation.

2&#xd7;2 wavelength selective switch array

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for optical communications. In one aspect, an optical circulator array includes a plurality of stacked three port circulators each having a respective first port of a first port array, a respective second port of a second port array, and a respective third port of a third port array. Each of the plurality of staked three port circulators share optical components including a first micro lens array optically coupled to the first port array and the third port array, a first walk off crystal, a first half wave plate, a first faraday rotator, a first birefringence wedge pair, a second birefringence wedge pair, a second Faraday rotator, a second half wave plate, a second birefringence walk off crystal, and a second micro lens array optically coupled to the second port array.

Optical circulator array

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for optical communications. In one aspect, an optical circulator array includes a plurality of stacked three port circulators each having a respective first port of a first port array, a respective second port of a second port array, and a respective third port of a third port array, wherein each of the plurality of stacked three port circulators share optical components including: a first Wollaston prism coupled to the first port array, a first lens, a first half wave plate, a polarization dependent beam path separator, a second half wave plate, a second lens, a propagation direction dependent polarization rotation assembly, a second Wollaston prism coupled to the second port array, and a third Wollaston prism coupled to the third port array.

Methods, systems, and apparatus, for optical switching. In one aspect, a wavelength selective switch includes one or more optical input ports; one or more optical output ports; a first optical wavelength dispersion element configured to separate the plurality of wavelength channels of the input optical beam; a second optical wavelength dispersion element configured to combine two or more separate optical beams each having one or more different wavelengths, into a combined beam having the plurality of wavelength channels; a polarization modulator array configured to independently change a polarization orientation of an optical beam passing through; optical components for directing optical beams corresponding to respective wavelength channels to different polarizing modulation cells; and a polarization beam splitter configured to route received optical beams to particular output paths according to polarization orientation.

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Castro Valley, CA, United States of America

Tian Zhu