Three-way branching unit switch module having small footprint
Aspects of the present disclosure describe a three-way branching unit switch module having a small footprint suitable for application in an undersea application.
1. An undersea, submarine optical fiber transmission system architecture comprising:
three landing stations, A, B, and C, each of the landing stations connected by two respective optical fiber pairs to a branching unit;
the branching unit configured to provide a three-way switching (3WS) function among and between the three landing stations, and
the branching unit comprising an arrangement of optical switches configured to provide states/connections among and between the three landing stations;
wherein the branching unit includes 6 1×2 optical switches arranged in groups of 2 switches, each switch of each group optically connected to a circulator which is optically connected to a respective one of the landing stations via a fiber pair, and each group of switches is optically connected to each of the other groups.