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. 05, 2003
Filed:
Mar. 27, 2001
Ansheng Liu, Cupertino, CA (US);
Mario J. Paniccia, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Dean A. Samara-Rubio, Pleasanton, CA (US);
Chi Chu, San Martin, CA (US);
Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
An optical switching method and apparatus. In one aspect of the present invention, the disclosed apparatus includes first and second multi-mode interference (MMI) splitting devices in a semiconductor substrate. First and second outputs of the first MMI splitting device are optically coupled to first and second inputs, respectively, of the second MMI splitting device. First and second phase control devices are included in the semiconductor substrate. The first input of the second MMI splitting device is optically coupled to the first output of the first MMI splitting device through the first phase control device. The second input of the second MMI splitting device is optically coupled to the second output of the first MMI splitting device through the second phase control device. The first input of the first MMI splitting device is selectively optically coupled to the first and second outputs of the second MMI splitting device in response to the first and second phase control devices. The second input of the first MMI splitting device is selectively optically coupled to the first and second outputs of the second MMI splitting device in response to the first and second phase control devices.