Optical waveguides – With optical coupler – Switch
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-16
2003-05-13
Ullah, Akm E. (Department: 2874)
Optical waveguides
With optical coupler
Switch
C385S147000, C385S017000, C385S901000, C250S330000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06563974
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF INVENTION
This invention relates to high resolution fiber-optic (FO) beam control modules for gain controls using active mixed-mode SMP macropixel device concept in a parallel, serial, and serial-parallel device placement optical module structure. The basic SMP macro-pixel device is operated in a mixed digital-analog mode combined with a serial and/or parallel placement of other such mixed-mode devices between two fiber collimator lens-fiber ports to form a basic high resolution fiber-optic variable gain control module. Extensions to 1×N switch modules with on demand variable gain controls are achievable with a mixed-mode SMP macropixel device using a dead pixel concept. Applications for such modules include gain, switch, and tap control elements in wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) optical communications, distributed sensor networks, lasers, transmitter modules, receivers, optical switches, crossconnects, WDM programmable add-drop modules, optical amplifier units, gain equalizers, polarization dependent loss (PDL) compensators, polarization mode dispersion (PMD) compensators, various FO monitoring and test equipment, and general photonic signal processing systems.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
Optical communication used to provide explosive bandwidth increases using WDM technology. Data rates are expected to increase from 10 Giga bits per second (Gbps) to 40 Gbps and higher per wavelength channel. Plus, wavelengths are expected to increase from 80 wavelengths to 512 wavelength. These straining demands on the optical networks implies stringent accuracy and performance requirements for optical components supporting the network. A critical element of the optical network is the variable optical attenuator (VOA). With increasing bits rates, optical power levels, wavelength channels, spatial channels or routing fibers, the performance requirements for the fiber-optic VOA are driven to demanding numbers. For instance, the next generation VOA will require 60 dB dynamic range, 16-bits of controls, 0.01 dB resolution through full dynamic range, fault-tolerance, ease of controls, low (<1 dB) loss, and moderately fast (in milliseconds) attenuation setting speeds. Today, it is extremely difficult to simultaneously deliver the high dynamic range with high resolution. The present application shows how VOA can provide both the high resolution and high dynamic range using the concept of the mixed-mode SMP macro-pixel-based VOA.
Prior art VOAs employ the interaction of a single fiber-optic beam with a single beam attenuating (reflective, absorptive, deflective, transmissive) element. In other words, any fiber beam globally interacts with one electrically controlled optical beamforming element such as the spatial pixel in two dimensional space or on-axis waveguide element (e.g., thermo-optic element on a section of a silica waveguide). For example, a single predesigned micromirror or polarization altering liquid crystal pixel is optically illuminated by the single beam emanating from an optical fiber. Hence, the entire spatial beam is simultaneously effected by the one optical attenuating response (varying transmittance or reflection) on the pixel. Thus light coupled into the output fiber undergoes an attenuation. If this pixel fails, the VOA completely stops working. This prior art is an example of centralized single-point optical beam processing that is prone to catastrophic component failure. This single pixel (or single point) fiber-optic processing method has been vigorously used to make both optical switching and attenuation FO components, such as using liquid crystals and MEMS based micromirrors. Example of prior art using polarization includes: K. Y. Wu, “Fault tolerant optical routing switch,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,724,165, 1998; J. S. Patel and Y. Silberberg, “Frequency selective optical switch employing a frequency dispersive element, polarization dispersive element, and polarization modulating elements,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,540, May 9; J. S. Patel and Y. Silberberg, “Optical switch employing first and second ferroelectric cells with alignment layers having alignment directions offset by 45 degrees,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,541, May 9, 1995; K.-Y. Wu and J.-Y. Liu, “1×N digitally programmable optical routing switch,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,116, Aug. 31, 1999; E. G. Hanson, “Polarization-independent liquid-crystal optical attenuator for fiber-optical applications,”
Applied Optics,
21, 1342(1982) and E. G. Hanson, “Optical switch attenuator,” U.S. Pat. No. 4,410,238, Oct. 18, 1983; J. J. Pan, “Polarization independent optical switch/attenuator,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,747, Jan. 4, 1994 and J. J. Pan, M. Shih, “Optical attenuator with low polarization mode dispersion,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,109, Mar. 10, 1998, K-Y Wu, J-Y Liu, Y-C Chen, “Optical attenuation using polarization modulation and a feedback controller,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,963,291, Oct. 5, 1999; J. L. Wentz, “Polarization independent light modulation means using birefringent crystals,” U.S. Pat. No. 3,719,414, Mar. 6, 1973.
Example of prior art using optical MEMS includes: G. A. Magel and T. G. McDonald, “Optical switch using spatial light modulators,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,778, Oct. 13, 1992; G. A. Magel, “Fiber optic switch with spatial light modulator device,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,088, Mar. 30, 1993; J. J. Pan, “1×N Electromechanical optical switch,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,683, Oct. 25, 1994; J. E. Ford, “Fiber optic switching device and method using free space scanning,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,621,829, Apr. 15, 1997; V. A. Aksyuk, D. J. Bishop, J. E. Ford, and J. A. Walker, “Freespace optical bypass-exchange switch,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,943,454, Aug. 24, 1999; V. A. Aksyuk, D. J. Bishop, and C. Randy, “Micro-machined optical switch with tapered ends,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,466, Aug. 22, 2000.; J. E. Ford and D. J. DiGiovanni, “1×N Fiber bundle scanning switch,” IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, Vol. 10, No. 7, pp. 967-969, July 1998; V. Aksyuk, B. Barder, C. R. Giles, R. Ruel, L. Stulz, and D. Bishop, “Low insertion loss packaged and fibre connectorised MEMS reflective optical switch,” Electronics Letters, Vol. 34, No. 14, pp. 1413-1414, July 1998; S. S. Lee, E. Motamedi, and M. C. Wu, “Surface-micromachined free-space fiber optic switches with integrated microactuators for optical fiber communication systems,” Transducers '97, pp. 85-87, Chicago, Ill., June 1997; S. S. Lee, L. Y. Lin, and M. C. Wu, “Surface-micromachined free-space fibre-optic switches,” Electronics Letters, Vol. 31, No. 17, pp. 1481-1482, August 1995; J. E. Ford and J. A. Walker, “Dynamic spectral power equalization using micro-opto-mechanics,”
IEEE Photonics Technology Letters,
Vol. 10, No. 10, pp. 1440-1442, October, 1998, V. Askyuk, B. Barber, C. R. Giles, R. Ruel, L. Stulz, and D. Bishop, “Low insertion loss packaged and fibre connectorized MEMS reflective optical switch,”
IEE Electronics Lett.,
Vol. 34, No. 14, pp. 1413-1414, Jul. 9, 1998, and B. Barber, C. R. Giles, V. Askyuk, R. Ruel, L. Stulz, and D. Bishop, “A fiber connectorized MEMS variable optical attenuator,”
IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett.,
Vol. 10, No. 9, pp. 1262-1264, September 1998; V. A. Aksyuk, D. J. Bishop, P. L. Gammel, C. R. Giles, “Article comprising a light actuated micromechanical photonic switch,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,075,239, Jun. 13, 2000; E. E. Bergmann, D. J. Bishop, “Moving mirror switch,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,031,946, Feb. 29, 2000; P. Colbourne, J. Obhl, N. Teltelbaum, “Variable optical attenuator,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,063, Jun. 22, 1999; J. E. Ford, K. W. Goossen, “Level setting optical attenuator,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,900,983, May 4, 1999; C. M. Garrett, C Fan, D. Cugalj, D. Gransden, “Voltage controlled attenuator,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,745,634, Apr. 28, 1998; J. E. Ford, D. A. B. Miller, M. C. Nuss, J. A. Walker, “Attenuation device for wavelength multiplexed optical fiber communications,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,745,271, Apr. 28, 1998; R. Wood, V. Dhuler, E. Hill, “A MEMS variable optical attenuator,” 2000 IEEE/LEOS International Conf. on Optical MEMS, pp.121-122, Kauai, Hi., Aug. 21-24
Beusse James H.
Beusse Brownlee Bowdoin & Wolter P.A.
Nuonics, Inc.
Ullah Akm E.
LandOfFree
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