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:
Oct. 18, 2005
Filed:
Dec. 19, 2002
John A. Moon, Wallingford, CT (US);
Alan D. Kersey, Glastonbury, CT (US);
James S. Sirkis, Wallingford, CT (US);
James R. Dunphy, Glastonbury, CT (US);
Joseph Pinto, Wallingford, CT (US);
Paul Szczepanek, Middletown, CT (US);
Michael A. Davis, Glastonbury, CT (US);
Martin A. Putnam, Cheshire, CT (US);
John A. Moon, Wallingford, CT (US);
Alan D. Kersey, Glastonbury, CT (US);
James S. Sirkis, Wallingford, CT (US);
James R. Dunphy, Glastonbury, CT (US);
Joseph Pinto, Wallingford, CT (US);
Paul Szczepanek, Middletown, CT (US);
Michael A. Davis, Glastonbury, CT (US);
Martin A. Putnam, Cheshire, CT (US);
CiDRA Corporation, Wallingford, CT (US);
Abstract
A reconfigurable optical blocking filter deletes a desired optical channel(s) from an optical WDM input signal, and includes a spatial light modulator having a micro-mirror device with a two-dimensional array of micro-mirrors that tilt between first and second positions in a 'digital' fashion in response to a control signal provided by a controller in accordance with a switching algorithm and an input command. A collimators, diffraction grating, and Fourier lens, collectively collimate, separate and focus the optical input channels onto the array of micro-mirrors. The optical channel is focused on the micro-mirrors onto a plurality of micro-mirrors of the micro-mirror device, which effectively pixelates the optical channels. To delete an input channel of the optical input signal, micro-mirrors associated with each desired input channel are tilted to reflect the desired input channel away from the return path.