Patent US6563982B1 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US6563982B1
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Method and apparatus for parallel optical processing
Assignee: Ii Vi Optical Systems Inc
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Filing: 2000-09-12
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Granted: 2003-05-13
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Expires: 2020-09-12
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus for the parallel optical processing of a plurality of optical beams within a single optical processing unit is provided. The optical processing unit may perform any of the functions associated with the following 3 port devices: a circulator, a demultiplexer, an interleaver, a multiplexer, a forward power tap, a reverse power tap, a power splitter, a polarization beam combiner and a polarization beam splitter. Access to the optical processing unit is provided by opposing bundles of optical fibers the input and output of which is directed from and to the optical function unit by lenses. Each triplet of optical fibers provides 3 ports of access to the optical processing unit. This allows multiple discrete optical beams each with unique optical parameters, e.g. wavelength, power, modulation, polarization, propagation direction, etc. to be individually delivered, to the optical processing unit on respective optical fibers, to be processed in parallel within the optical processing unit, and to be output individually on the appropriate ones of the optical fibers associated with each of the triplets. The performance of a given optical processing unit with respect to any optical beam delivered to it may be improved by coupling the appropriate ports of two or more of the triplets to effectively reintroduce to the optical processing unit via the appropriate port(s) of a second of the triplets at least a portion of a beam initially introduced to the optical processing unit through a selected port(s) of a first of the triplets.
Inventors
- 👤 Ping Xie
- 👤 Salvador P. Tiscareno
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-27 19:57
CPC Classifications
G; G02; G02B; G02B6/00; G02B6/24; G02B6/26; G02B6/27; G02B6/2746; G02B6/32
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 33
Claim 1
Independent Claim
160 words
An optical apparatus for parallel optical processing of optical beams on optical fibers with each of the optical fibers including a corresponding interface, and the optical apparatus comprising: a first bundle and a second bundle of the optical fibers aligned substantially parallel with a longitudinally extending axis, with triplets of the optical fibers each including a single member on one of said first bundle and said second bundle, with each pair of members aligned in a different row from each other pair of members and a pair of members aligned in a row on the other of said first bundle and said second bundle and with the rows formed by the paired members of the triplets substantially parallel to one another; lenses to direct the optical beams from either of said first bundle and said second bundle of the optical fibers toward substantially coincident focal points; an optical processing unit (OPU) to process the optical beams directed by said lenses.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
160 words
An optical apparatus for parallel optical processing of optical beams on optical fibers with each of the optical fibers including a corresponding interface, and the optical apparatus comprising: a first bundle and a second bundle of the optical fibers aligned substantially parallel with a longitudinally extending axis, with triplets of the optical fibers each including a single member on one of said first bundle and said second bundle, with each pair of members aligned in a different row from each other pair of members and a pair of members aligned in a row on the other of said first bundle and said second bundle and with the rows formed by the paired members of the triplets substantially parallel to one another; lenses to direct the optical beams from either of said first bundle and said second bundle of the optical fibers toward substantially coincident focal points; an optical processing unit (OPU) to process the optical beams directed by said lenses.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
48 words
The optical apparatus of claim 1 , with at least a first selected one of the rows on one of said first bundle and said second bundle and at least a second selected one of the rows on an other of said first bundle and said second bundle.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
28 words
The optical apparatus of claim 2 , wherein said lenses exhibit front and back focal planes with substantially complementary offsets from the first termination and the second termination.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
70 words
The optical apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the corresponding interfaces of each of the optical fibers of said first bundle and said second bundle define a substantially planar first termination of said first bundle and a substantially planar second termination of said second bundle, with the first termination and the second termination at complementary obtuse angles to one another about a first axis substantially parallel to the optical fibers.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
28 words
The optical apparatus of claim 4 , wherein projections of the first termination and the second termination intersect one another at a line substantially normal to the rows.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
14 words
The optical apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said lenses further comprise: aspherical lenses.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
17 words
The optical apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said lenses exhibit a numerical aperture greater than 0.20.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
47 words
The optical apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said OPU further comprises: a birefringent material located between said lenses with a principal plane oriented substantially parallel both to the rows defined by each triplet, and to a line extending between said first bundle and said second bundle.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
68 words
The optical apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said optical processing unit further comprises: a partially reflective substantially planar interface oriented to intersect a first axis normal to each of said rows, with a line of intersection between the partially reflective substantially planar interface and the first axis substantially normal to each of said rows and to a line extending between said first bundle and said second bundle.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
46 words
The optical apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said optical processing unit further comprises at least one of: a circulator, a demultiplexer, an interleaver, a multiplexer, a forward power tap, a reverse power tap, a power splitter, a polarization beam combiner and a polarization beam splitter.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
31 words
The optical apparatus of claim 1 , with said optical processing unit further comprising: a birefringent material located between said lenses to circulate optical beams in each triplet of optical fibers.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
49 words
The optical apparatus of claim 1 , with said optical processing unit further configured with a wavelength selective transmissive/reflective interface to demultiplex optical beams from a selected optical fiber of each triplet of optical fibers at a corresponding remaining pair of the optical fibers of each of the triplets.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
49 words
The optical apparatus of claim 1 , with said optical processing unit further configured with a diffraction interface to tap power from optical beams from a selected optical fiber of each triplet of optical fibers at a corresponding remaining pair of the optical fibers of each of the triplets.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
52 words
The optical apparatus of claim 1 , with said optical processing unit further configured with a substantially wavelength insensitive reflective interface to tap power from optical beams from a selected optical fiber of each triplet of optical fibers at a corresponding remaining pair of the optical fibers of each of the triplets.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
53 words
The optical apparatus of claim 1 , with said optical processing unit further configured with a principal plane to split arbitrarily polarized optical beams from a selected optical fiber of each triplet of optical fibers into orthogonally polarized light at a corresponding remaining pair of the optical fibers of each of the triplets.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
57 words
The optical apparatus of claim 1 , with said optical processing unit further configured with a principal plane parallel to combine orthogonally polarized optical beams from a selected pair of the optical fibers of each triplet of optical fibers into arbitrarily polarized light at a corresponding remaining one of the optical fibers of each of the triplets.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
47 words
The optical apparatus of claim 1 , with said optical processing unit further configured with a principal plane to interleave optical beams from a selected optical fiber of each triplet of optical fibers at a corresponding remaining pair of the optical fibers of each of the triplets.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
43 words
The optical apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising: optical couplings between selected optical fibers of at least a first triplet and a second triplet of optical fibers to reintroduce for reprocessing within the OPU at least a portion of an optical beam.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
153 words
A method for parallel optical processing of optical beams propagating on optical paths and with each optical path including a corresponding interface, and said method comprising the acts of: aligning the optical paths substantially parallel with a first axis, with triplets of the optical paths each including a pair of optical paths defining a row and a single optical path, with each pair of optical paths aligned in a different row from each other pair of optical paths, and the interfaces of the triplets defining an opposing pair of substantially planar first and second terminations of the optical paths, with the rows formed by the paired members of the triplets substantially parallel to one another; directing the optical beams from either of the opposing pair of substantially planar first and second terminations toward substantially coincident focal points between the pair of terminations; optically processing the optical beams directed in said act of directing.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
153 words
A method for parallel optical processing of optical beams propagating on optical paths and with each optical path including a corresponding interface, and said method comprising the acts of: aligning the optical paths substantially parallel with a first axis, with triplets of the optical paths each including a pair of optical paths defining a row and a single optical path, with each pair of optical paths aligned in a different row from each other pair of optical paths, and the interfaces of the triplets defining an opposing pair of substantially planar first and second terminations of the optical paths, with the rows formed by the paired members of the triplets substantially parallel to one another; directing the optical beams from either of the opposing pair of substantially planar first and second terminations toward substantially coincident focal points between the pair of terminations; optically processing the optical beams directed in said act of directing.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 19 , wherein said aligning act further comprises: aligning the corresponding interfaces of each of the opposing pair of terminations at substantially complementary obtuse angles to one another about the first axis.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 19 , wherein said aligning act further comprises: aligning the rows of the triplets substantially parallel to one another.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of claim 19 , wherein said aligning act further comprises: aligning the first termination and the second termination wherein a plane of the first and a plane of the second terminations intersect one another at a line substantially parallel to the rows.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
77 words
The method of claim 19 , wherein said directing act further comprises: converting a diverging optical beam directed toward the substantially coincident focal points from one of the opposing pair of terminations to a converging optical beam directed toward the opposing pair of terminations; and converting a converging optical beam directed toward the substantially coincident focal points from one of the opposing pair of terminations to a diverging optical beam directed toward the opposing pair of terminations.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 19 , wherein said optical processing act further comprises: circulating optical beams between selected ones of the corresponding optical paths of each triplet.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method of claim 19 , wherein said optical processing act further comprises: demultiplexing, in each of the triplets, a corresponding one of the optical beams from one of the corresponding three optical paths at a remaining two of the optical paths of the corresponding triplet.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method of claim 19 , wherein said optical processing act further comprises: tapping, in each of the triplets, an energy of a corresponding one of the optical beams from one of the corresponding three optical paths at a remaining two of the optical paths of the corresponding triplet.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
55 words
The method of claim 19 , wherein said optical processing act further comprises: splitting, in each of the triplets, a corresponding one of the optical beams with an arbitrary polarization state from one of the corresponding three optical paths into orthogonally polarized rays at a remaining two of the optical paths of the corresponding triplet.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
54 words
The method of claim 19 , wherein said optical processing act further comprises: combining, in each of the triplets, a corresponding pair of the optical beams with orthogonal polarization states from two of the corresponding three optical paths into arbitrarily polarized rays at a remaining one of the optical paths of the corresponding triplet.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
62 words
The method of claim 19 , wherein said optical processing act further comprises: interleaving, in each of the triplets, a corresponding one of the optical beams with a plurality of wavelengths from one of the corresponding three optical paths into a pair of rays with odd and even wavelengths respectively at a remaining two of the optical paths of the corresponding triplet.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
61 words
The method of claim 19 , wherein said optical processing act further comprises: interleaving, in each of the triplets, a corresponding pair of the optical beams with odd and even wavelengths respectively from two of the corresponding three optical paths into a ray with both odd and even wavelengths at a remaining one of the optical paths of the corresponding triplet.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
47 words
The method of claim 19 , further comprising the act of: optically coupling at least one selected optical path of one of the triplets with at least one selected optical path of another of the triplets to optically reprocess at least a portion of an optical beam.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2006-05-12 | 2006-11-11 | 2007-05-13 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2010-05-12 | 2010-11-11 | 2011-05-13 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2014-05-12 | 2014-11-11 | 2015-05-13 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |