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:
Jul. 20, 2010
Filed:
Mar. 27, 2006
Joe Wen, Fremont, CA (US);
Samuel Liu, San Jose, CA (US);
Giovanni Barbarossa, Saratoga, CA (US);
Oclaro Technology, plc, Paignton, GB;
Abstract
The present invention provides a switch assembly for use with a single-port OPM to realize a multi-port OPM having improved reliability. In one embodiment, an N×1 optical switch assembly, wherein N is an integer greater than one, is provided. The optical switch assembly includes N optical input ports, N micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) variable optical attenuators (VOAs), where each MEMS VOA is optically coupled to a respective optical input port and is operable between an on position and an off position, and an N×1 optical combiner optically coupled to the N MEMS VOAs. Each MEMS VOA is configured to transmit an optical signal from a respective one of the optical input ports to the N×1 optical combiner in the on position and to not transmit the optical signal in the off position.