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:
Feb. 18, 1997
Filed:
Nov. 21, 1995
Henry H Yaffe, Dunwoody, GA (US);
Lucent Technologies Inc., Murray Hill, NJ (US);
Abstract
An optical integrated circuit provides multiple power splitting functions and comprises a plurality of optical power splitters networked together. In one embodiment, the optical integrated circuit has two 2.times.2 optical power splitters ganged together such that the circuit simultaneously provides two different 1.times.2 power splitting functions and four different 1.times.3 power splitting functions. In another embodiment, the optical integrated circuit has three 2.times.2 optical power splitters ganged together such that the circuit simultaneously provides two 1.times.2 power splitting functions, four 1.times.3 power splitting functions, and two 1.times.4 power splitting functions. Since each integrated circuit provides more than one power splitting function, the integrated circuit is more versatile than a single power splitter. The integrated circuit may also present a lower cost in comparison to a circuit formed with discrete elements since additional power splitters can be placed on a single substrate for only a nominal increase in cost. The integrated circuit further reduces the time needed to couple fibers to their respective power splitters since multiple fibers in a fiber ribbon array can be simultaneously coupled to the ports of the optical integrated circuit.