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. 23, 2007
Filed:
Jun. 16, 2004
Daniel A. Fishman, Lakewood, NJ (US);
Xiang Liu, Marlboro, NJ (US);
Vincent John Silverio, Middletown, NJ (US);
William A. Thompson, Red Bank, NJ (US);
Jinpin Ying, East Brunswick, NJ (US);
Daniel A. Fishman, Lakewood, NJ (US);
Xiang Liu, Marlboro, NJ (US);
Vincent John Silverio, Middletown, NJ (US);
William A. Thompson, Red Bank, NJ (US);
Jinpin Ying, East Brunswick, NJ (US);
Lucent Technologies Inc., Murray Hill, NJ (US);
Abstract
An optical add/drop multiplexer (OADM) adapted to route optical signals having at least two different bit rates. The OADM has at least two sets of DWDM channels, e.g., with channels in a first set having a first bandwidth value suitable for the transmission of 10-Gb/s signals and channels in a second set having a second bandwidth value suitable for the transmission of 40-Gb/s signals. The first and second sets occupy two different spectral bands and the first set has two subsets of interleaved channels. In one embodiment, the OADM has first and second optical branches adapted to process optical signals corresponding to first and second groups of channels, respectively. The first group includes a first subset from the first set while the second group includes the second set and a second subset from the first set. Advantageously, OADMs of the invention may be used to create independent processing paths for different groups of channels. As a result, a communication system having those OADMs can be upgraded, e.g., to add a new 40-Gb/s service and/or to populate additional 10-Gb/s channels substantially without interrupting the 10-Gb/s service already in place.