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:
Aug. 21, 2001
Filed:
Dec. 14, 1999
Lih Y. Lin, Little Silver, NJ (US);
Adel A. M. Saleh, Holmdel, NJ (US);
Jane M. Simmons, Middletown, NJ (US);
AT&T Corporation, Middletown, NJ (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides a device and method for achieving protection in a free-space micromachined optical switching fabric. The present invention provides two protection schemes for mirror failures, which utilize either existing switching mirrors or additional integrated mirrors without extra fabrication effort or performance-degradation of the switch fabric. A switch fabric includes a plurality of micromachined free-rotating mirrors arranged in a rectilinear matrix configuration. The mirrors are reflective on both front and back sides. According to one embodiment of the present invention, upon the detection of a failed mirror associated with a transmission between an input and an output, a transmission path is determined that includes a backside of a pivot mirror. A transmission path is then established between the input and the output that utilizes the backside of the pivot mirror.