Optoelectronic switch
View Patent ↗An optoelectronic switch comprising: a first plurality of detector remodulators (DRMs) (C 3 , D 1 ), each DRM having an integer number M of optical inputs and an integer number N of optical outputs; a second plurality of DRMs (C 7 , D 5 ), each DRM having N optical inputs and M optical outputs; a passive optical switch fabric (C 4 +C 5 +C 6 , D 2 +D 3 +D 4 ) connecting the N optical outputs of each of the first plurality of DRMs with the N optical inputs of each of the second plurality of DRMs, the path of an optical signal through the optical switch fabric depending upon its wavelength; wherein each DRM (C 3 , D 1 ) of the first plurality of DRMs is configured to act as a tunable wavelength converter to select the desired path of an optical signal through the optical switch fabric (C 4 +C 5 +C 6 , D 2 +D 3 +D 4 ); and wherein each of the first plurality of DRMs (C 3 , D 1 ) includes a concentrator, the concentrator configured to aggregate optical signals received from any of the M inputs of that DRM and to buffer them according to the one of the plurality of second DRMs (C 7 , D 5 ) that includes their destination port.
1. An optoelectronic switch comprising:
a first plurality of detector remodulators (DRMs), each DRM having an integer number M of optical inputs and an integer number N of optical outputs;
a passive optical switch fabric connected to the N optical outputs of each of the first plurality of DRMs;
wherein each DRM of the first plurality of DRMs is configured to act as a selectable wavelength converter to select a desired path of an optical signal through the optical switch fabric; and
wherein each of the first plurality of DRMs includes a concentrator.
2. The optoelectronic switch of claim 1 , further comprising a second plurality of DRMs each having N optical inputs,
wherein the passive optical switch fabric comprises:
an optical full-mesh fabric;
a pre-mesh arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) stage configured to connect each output of each of the first plurality of DRMs to the optical full-mesh fabric; and
a post-mesh AWG stage configured to connect the optical full-mesh fabric to each input of each of the second plurality of DRMs.
3. The optoelectronic switch of claim 2 , wherein the pre-mesh AWG stage comprises a plurality of AWGs.
4. The optoelectronic switch of claim 3 , wherein the pre-mesh AWG comprises one AWG for each of the first plurality of DRMs.
5. The optoelectronic switch of claim 2 , wherein the post-mesh AWG stage comprises a plurality of AWGs.
6. The optoelectronic switch of claim 5 , wherein the post-mesh AWG stage comprises one AWG for each of the second plurality of DRMs.
7. The optoelectronic switch of claim 2 , wherein each DRM of the first plurality of DRMs comprises:
one or more detector(s), each detector configured to convert an optical input signal into an electrical output signal;
one or more modulator(s), each modulator having an electrical input and being configured to receive an unmodulated laser input and to generate a modulated optical signal having the wavelength of the laser input and containing information from the electrical output signal from a respective detector; and
an ASIC electrically connecting the electrical output of the detector(s) to the electrical input of the modulator(s), the ASIC configured:
to control the path of the optical signal through the passive optical switch fabric by selecting the wavelength.
8. The optoelectronic switch according to claim 2 , wherein each DRM of the second plurality of DRMs comprises:
one or more detector(s), each detector configured to convert an optical input signal into an electrical output signal;
one or more modulator(s), each modulator having an electrical input and being configured to receive an unmodulated laser input and to generate a modulated optical signal having the wavelength of the laser input and containing information from the electrical output signal from a respective detector; and
an ASIC electrically connecting the electrical output of the detector(s) to the electrical input of the modulator(s), the ASIC configured:
to select which output port within that DRM a signal corresponding to the optical input signal should be sent to; and
to control the wavelength of the output signal.
9. The optoelectronic switch of claim 1 , further comprising a second plurality of DRMs,
wherein the passive optical router switch fabric comprises:
an AWG;
a pre-AWG optical full-mesh fabric; and
a post-AWG optical full-mesh fabric.
10. The optoelectronic switch of claim 9 , wherein the AWG comprises one AWG for each of the first plurality of DRMs.
11. The optoelectronic switch of claim 9 , wherein each DRM of the first plurality of DRMs comprises:
one or more detector(s) configured to convert an optical input signal into an electrical output signal;
one or more modulator(s) each having an electrical input and being configured to receive an unmodulated laser input and to generate a modulated optical signal having the wavelength of the laser input and containing information from the electrical output signal from a respective detector; and
an ASIC electrically connecting the electrical output of the detector(s) to the electrical input of the modulator(s), the ASIC configured:
to control the path of the optical signal through the passive optical switch fabric by selecting the wavelength required.
12. The optoelectronic switch according to claim 9 , wherein each DRM of the second plurality of DRMs comprises:
one or more detector(s) configured to convert an optical input signal into an electrical output signal;
one or more modulator(s) each having an electrical input and being configured to receive an unmodulated laser input and to generate a modulated optical signal having the wavelength of the laser input and containing information from the electrical output signal from a respective detector; and
an ASIC electrically connecting the electrical output of the detector(s) to the electrical input of the modulator(s), the ASIC configured:
to select which output port within that DRM a signal corresponding to the optical input signal should be sent to; and
to control the wavelength of the output signal.
13. The optoelectronic switch of claim 1 , wherein M=N.
14. The optoelectronic switch of claim 1 , wherein M≠N.
15. The optoelectronic switch of claim 1 , configured to function as an optoelectronic circuit switch.
16. The optoelectronic switch of claim 1 , configured to function as an optoelectronic packet switch.
17. A detector remodulator for use in controlling a path through an optical router of an optoelectronic switch, the detector remodulator comprising:
one or more detector(s) configured to convert an optical input signal into an electrical output signal;
one or more modulator(s) each having an electrical input and being configured to receive an unmodulated laser input and to generate a modulated optical signal having the wavelength of the laser input and containing information from the electrical output signal from a respective detector; and
an ASIC electrically connecting the electrical output of the detector(s) to the electrical input of the modulator(s), the ASIC configured:
to control the concentration of signals destined for a group of outputs of the optical router; and
to control the path of the optical signal through the optical router by selecting the wavelength.