Method and system for redundant light sources by utilizing two inputs of an integrated modulator

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10313019-B2
Application number	US-201715639515-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 30, 2017
Priority date	Jul 1, 2016
Publication date	Jun 4, 2019
Grant date	Jun 4, 2019

Abstract

Methods and systems for redundant light sources by utilizing two inputs of an integrated modulator are disclosed and may include: an optoelectronic transmitter integrated in a semiconductor die with first and second laser sources coupled to the semiconductor die, said optoelectronic transmitter comprising an optical modulator with a first input waveguide coupled to the first laser source and second input waveguide coupled to the second laser source, the optoelectronic receiver being operable to: configure the first laser source to provide an optical signal to the first input of the optical modulator; and if the first laser source does not provide an optical signal, configure the second laser source to provide an optical signal to the second input of the optical modulator. The first laser source may be optically coupled to the first input waveguide and the second laser source optically coupled to the second input waveguide using grating couplers.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for communication, the method comprising:
in an optoelectronic transmitter integrated in a semiconductor die with first and second laser sources coupled to the semiconductor die, said optoelectronic transmitter comprising an optical modulator with a first input waveguide coupled to the first laser source and second input waveguide coupled to the second laser source:
applying a bias current to the first laser source to provide an optical signal to the first input of the optical modulator; and
if the first laser source does not provide an optical signal, applying a bias current to the second laser source to provide an optical signal to the second input of the optical modulator.

2. The method according to claim 1 , comprising optically coupling the first laser source to the first input waveguide and the second laser source to the second input waveguide using grating couplers.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the optical modulator comprises a Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) modulator.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the optical modulator comprises a ring modulator.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the optoelectronic transmitter comprises a plurality of modulators, each with two laser sources.

6. The method according to claim 1 , comprising transmitting modulated optical signals from the optoelectronic transmitter using the optical signal from the first laser source or the second laser source.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first and second laser sources are integrated in an optical source assembly coupled to the semiconductor die.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the optical modulator comprises a high speed modulation section and a bias section.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the semiconductor die comprises a silicon photonics die.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the silicon photonics die comprises a silicon complementary-metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) photonics die.

11. A system for communication, the system comprising:
an optoelectronic transmitter integrated in a semiconductor die with first and second laser sources coupled to the semiconductor die, said optoelectronic transmitter comprising an optical modulator with a first input waveguide coupled to the first laser source and second input waveguide coupled to the second laser source, the optoelectronic transmitter being operable to:
apply a bias current to the first laser source to provide an optical signal to the first input of the optical modulator; and
if the first laser source does not provide an optical signal, apply a bias current to the second laser source to provide an optical signal to the second input of the optical modulator.

12. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the first laser source is optically coupled to the first input waveguide and the second laser source is optically coupled to the second input waveguide using grating couplers.

13. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the optical modulator comprises a Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) modulator.

14. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the optical modulator comprises a ring modulator.

15. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the optoelectronic transmitter comprises a plurality of modulators, each with two laser sources.

16. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the optoelectronic transmitter is operable to transmit modulated optical signals from the optoelectronic transmitter using the optical signal from the first laser source or the second laser source.

17. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the first and second laser sources are integrated in an optical source assembly coupled to the semiconductor die.

18. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the optical modulator comprises a high speed modulation section and a bias section.

19. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the semiconductor die comprises a silicon complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) photonic die.

20. A system for communication, the system comprising:
an optoelectronic transmitter integrated in a silicon photonics die with first and second laser sources optically coupled to the silicon photonics die using grating couplers, said optoelectronic transmitter comprising an optical modulator with a first input waveguide coupled to the first laser source and second input waveguide coupled to the second laser source, the optoelectronic transmitter being operable to:
apply a bias current to the first laser source to provide an optical signal to the first input of the optical modulator; and
if the first laser source does not provide an optical signal, apply a bias current to the second laser source to provide an optical signal to the second input of the optical modulator.

Assignees

• Luxtera Inc

Inventors

• Young Greg
• Dedobbelaere Peter

Classifications

• H04B10/503

  Laser transmitters · CPC title

• H04B10/505

  using external modulation · CPC title

• H04B10/032 Primary

  using working and protection systems {(H04J14/0287 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• H04B10/541 Primary

  Digital intensity or amplitude modulation · CPC title

• G02F2001/212

  Physics · mapped topic