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:
Mar. 22, 2005
Filed:
May. 18, 2001
Alan F. Graves, Kanata, CA;
John G. Gruber, Orleans, CA;
Andrew J. Bryant, Bishop's Stortford, GB;
Nortl Networks Limited, St-Laurent, CA;
Abstract
An optical switch is equipped with a set of optical intensity controllers at its input, each intensity controller being driven to vary a corresponding WDM input traffic signal with a low power test signal. The switch is also equipped with optical splitters at its output and a path integrity analyzer connected to the splitters and to the intensity controllers. The path integrity analyzer generates or controls generation of the test signals applied by the intensity controllers. The path integrity analyzer also receives the tapped portions of the WDM output signals and separates them into their single-carrier components in order to recover a set of switched single-carrier optical signals. The path integrity analyzer is further provided with test signal detectors used to detect the presence of a test signal in each recovered switched single-carrier optical signal. The path integrity analyzer thus ascertains the integrity of the connection involving each switched single-carrier optical signal by comparing detected test signals to expected test signals that are derived from a connection map.