The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 17, 1992
Filed:
Mar. 01, 1991
Robert T Weverka, Boulder, CO (US);
Optivideo Corporation, Boulder, CO (US);
Abstract
An optical interconnecting device and method are disclosed for selectively directing signals from an array of optical inputs to an array of optical outputs through an optical medium. The input signals are angularly multiplexed and redirected by dynamic gratings of the appropriate spatial, or grating, frequency. Spatially periodic optical index perturbations propragated in the medium are utilized to achieve the dynamic gratings. The angles at which light is input to the gratings (input angles) and angles at which light is collected from the gratings (output angles) are selected to allow each grating frequency to connect signals at only one input angle to one output angle and thus only one optical output. The number of resolvable gratings required is the product of the number of inputs and the number of output. For the interconnection of an equal number of inputs and outputs connected in a one to one permutation, only a number of gratings equal to the number of inputs need be present simultaneously.