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:
Sep. 10, 2002
Filed:
Jul. 21, 1998
David R. Huber, Glenwood, MD (US);
Corvis Corporation, Columbia, MD (US);
Abstract
Apparatuses and methods are disclosed for use in optical communication systems. An optical system of the present invention includes an optical transmitter, an optical receiver, and an optical processing node optically connecting the transmitter and the receiver. The optical processing node includes at least one waveband selector configured to selectively pass at least one optical waveband of information including a plurality of information carrying wavelengths from the transmitter to the receiver. In an embodiment, the optical processing node includes a switch configured to separate an optical signal into optical wavebands of information and selectively pass the optical wavebands to the receiver without separating the plurality of information carrying wavelengths into individual wavelengths. In an embodiment of the optical transmission system, a plurality of nodes containing optical transmitters, receivers, and/or switching equipment are interconnected using optical processing nodes to form the network. The assignment of wavelengths to information and to destination can be performed at the client system interface with the optical network to provide for wavelength and waveband management without wavelength conversion.