Reconfigurable optical add and drop multiplexer system with intergrated wavelength selective switch array

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024106558-A1
Application number	US-202318368577-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 15, 2023
Priority date	Sep 27, 2022
Publication date	Mar 28, 2024
Grant date	—

Abstract

A reconfigurable optical add and drop multiplexer (ROADM) system is provided. The ROADM system may include a switching system which includes at least one first WSS optically coupled to a tapping coupler and configured to receive an input optical signal from a first circulator, transmit a drop optical signal to a demultiplexer to drop one or more first wavelength channels, and output a through optical signal. The switching system may also include at least one second WSS optically coupled to the at least one first WSS and a multiplexer and configured to receive an add optical signal to add one or more second wavelength channels, receive the through optical signal, and output an output optical signal to a second circulator, and at least one OCM configured to monitor the input optical signal and the output optical signal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A reconfigurable optical add and drop multiplexer (ROADM) system, comprising:
a switching system configured to route optical signals through the ROADM, wherein the switching system comprises: at least one first wavelength selective switch (WSS) optically coupled to a tapping coupler and configured to receive an input optical signal from a first circulator, transmit a drop optical signal to a demultiplexer to drop one or more first wavelength channels, and output a through optical signal; at least one second WSS optically coupled to the at least one first WSS and a multiplexer and configured to receive an add optical signal from the multiplexer to add one or more second wavelength channels, receive the through optical signal from the at least one first WSS, and output an output optical signal to a second circulator; and at least one optical channel monitor (OCM) configured to monitor the input optical signal received by the at least one first WSS and the output optical signal output by the at least one second WSS.

2 . The ROADM system of claim 1 , wherein the first circulator and the second circulator are a same bi-directional circulator.

3 . The ROADM system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of optical ports comprising a plurality of input optical ports respectively configured to receive an input optical beam having a plurality of wavelength channels, wherein the plurality of optical ports are respectively corresponding to the at least one first WSS, the at least one second WSS, and the at least one OCM.

4 . The ROADM system of claim 3 , further comprising a polarization conditioning system configured to separate the input optical beam into a first polarization and a second polarization orthogonal to the first polarization,
wherein the switching system comprises a dispersion system configured to spatially separate the plurality of wavelength channels, and wherein the plurality of optical ports further comprise a plurality of output optical ports respectively configured to receive an output optical beam obtained by passing the plurality of input optical beams through the polarization conditioning system and the switching system.

5 . The ROADM system of claim 1 , wherein one of the at least one OCM comprises a Mux WSS and a photodiode detector (PD) optically coupled to the Mux WSS.

6 . The ROADM system of claim 4 , wherein the at least one first WSS, the at least one second WSS, and the at least one OCM share a single set of optics.

7 . The ROADM system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one first WSS comprise a first Demux WSS and a second Demux WSS, the at least one second WSS comprise a first Mux WSS and a second Mux WSS, and the at least one COM comprises a first OCM and a second OCM,
wherein the first Demux WSS is optically coupled to a first tapping coupler and is configured to receive a first input optical signal from the first circulator, transmit a first drop optical signal to a first demultiplexer to drop the one or more first wavelength channels, and output a first through optical signal to the first Mux WSS, wherein the first Mux WSS is optically coupled to the first Demux WSS and is configured to receive a first add optical signal from a first multiplexer, receive the first through optical signal from the first Demux WSS, and output a first output optical signal to the second circulator, and wherein the first OCM is optically coupled to the first tapping coupler and a second tapping coupler, and is configured to monitor the first input optical signal received by the first Demux WSS and the first output optical signal output by the first Mux WSS.

8 . The ROADM system of claim 7 , wherein the second Demux WSS is optically coupled to a third tapping coupler and is configured to receive a second input optical signal from the second circulator, transmit a second drop optical signal to a second demultiplexer to drop the one or more first wavelength channels, and output a second through optical signal to the second Mux WSS,
wherein the second Mux WSS is optically coupled to the second Demux WSS and is configured to receive a second add optical signal from a second multiplexer, receive the second through optical signal from the second Demux WSS, and output a second output optical signal to the first circulator, and wherein the second OCM is optically coupled to the third tapping coupler and a fourth tapping coupler, and is configured to monitor the second input optical signal received by the second Demux WSS and the second output optical signal output by the second Mux WSS.

9 . The ROADM system of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of optical ports comprises six set of optical ports, one set of optical ports comprises an input optical port and two output optical ports, one set of optical ports is corresponding to one of the first and second Demux WSSs, the first and second Mux WSSs, and the first and second OCMs.

10 . The ROADM system of claim 9 , wherein the six set of optical ports are arranged in two rows and three columns.

11 . The ROADM system of claim 4 , wherein the switching system comprises a liquid crystal (LC) polarization switching array comprising a first row of pixel array and a second row of pixel array, and
wherein each row of pixel array comprises three switch controlling sections, and each switch controlling section comprises a plurality of liquid crystal elements.

12 . The ROADM system of claim 11 , wherein the first row of pixel array comprises three switch controlling sections configured to respectively control the first Demux WSS, the first Mux WSS, and the first OCM, and
wherein the second row of pixel array comprises three switch controlling sections configured to respectively control the second Demux WSS, the second Mux WSS, and the second OCM.

13 . The ROADM system of claim 12 , wherein the three switch controlling sections in the first row and the three switch controlling sections in the second row are arranged in three different columns.

14 . A switching system, comprising:
at least one first wavelength selective switch (WSS) optically coupled to a tapping coupler and configured to receive an input optical signal from a first circulator, transmit a drop optical signal to a demultiplexer to drop one or more first wavelength channels, and output a through optical signal; at least one second WSS optically coupled to the at least one first WSS and a multiplexer and configured to receive an add optical signal from the multiplexer to add one or more second wavelength channels, receive the through optical signal from the at least one first WSS, and output an output optical signal to a second circulator; and at least one optical channel monitor (OCM) configured to monitor the input optical signal received by the at least one first WSS and the output optical signal output by the at least one second WSS.

15 . The switching system of claim 14 , wherein the first circulator and the second circulator are a same bi-directional circulator.

16 . The switching system of claim 14 , wherein the switching system is configured to receive a plurality of input optical beams from a plurality of optical ports, the plurality of optical ports comprise a plurality of input optical ports respectively configured to receive an input optical beam having a plurality of wavelength channels, and the plurality of optical ports are respectively corresponding to the at least one first WSS, the at least one second WSS, and the at least one OCM.

17 . The switching system of claim 16 , further comprising a di

Assignees

• Molex Llc

Inventors

• Li Minchun
• Hu Gongjian
• Gong Lifu
• Zhou Feng Qing

Classifications

• H04J14/0212 Primary

  using optical switches or wavelength selective switches [WSS] · CPC title

• H04Q11/0005 Primary

  Switch and router aspects · CPC title

• H04Q2011/0016

  using wavelength multiplexing or demultiplexing · CPC title

• H04Q2011/0026

  using free space propagation (e.g. lenses, mirrors) · CPC title