Optical module and optical switch

1. An optical module comprising:

a silica-based 3-dimensional optical waveguide circuit;

a plurality of driving electronic devices for controlling the driving of optical switch units having heater elements to modify an optical output characteristic of said optical waveguide circuit by causing a refractive index variation of said waveguide circuit by using a thermal-optic effect; and

analog adjustable driving power supply circuits for supplying current to said heater elements;

wherein said driving electronic devices are mounted on a same silica-based substrate of said optical waveguide circuit together with said optical waveguide circuit,

wherein said optical switch units are divided into separate multiple groups, one or more of the groups having a plurality of the optical switch units, each optical switch unit having at least two heater elements,

wherein each analog adjustable driving power supply circuit is electrically connected to all of the optical switch units within a corresponding group, each one of said analog adjustable driving power supply circuits being electrically connected by a corresponding single shared common power supply line to all of the optical switch units of the corresponding group so as to supply current to the heater elements thereof,

wherein wiring from said driving electronic devices is integrated on the silica-based substrate of said optical waveguide circuit in the form of a bare chip, and

wherein said driving electronic devices are provided for every said corresponding group of said optical switch units and integrated on the silica-based substrate of said optical waveguide circuit.

2. The optical module as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said optical waveguide circuit consists of an optical switch.

3. The optical module as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said optical waveguide circuit consists of a variable optical attenuator.

4. The optical module as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the driving electronic devices comprise integrated circuits.

5. The optical module as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the driving electronic devices comprise a bare chip mounted on the optical waveguide circuit.

6. An optical module comprising:

an optical waveguide circuit mounted on a substrate, the optical waveguide circuit and the substrate being silica based, the optical waveguide circuit having a refractive index that can be varied by using a thermal-optic effect;

optical switch units having heater elements mounted on the substrate and disposed adjacent the optical waveguide circuit, wherein the optical switch units are divided into separate multiple groups, one or more of the groups having a plurality of the optical switch units, each optical switch unit having at least two heater elements;

analog adjustable driving power supply circuits for supplying current to said heater elements, wherein each analog adjustable driving power supply circuit is electrically connected to all of the optical switch units within a corresponding group, each one of said analog adjustable driving power supply circuits being electrically connected by a corresponding single shared common power supply line to all of the optical switch units of the corresponding group so as to supply current to the heater elements thereof; and

a plurality of driving electronic devices operatively coupled to the one or more optical switch units so as to selectively drive the heater elements to vary the refractive index of the optical waveguide circuit by thermal optic effect, the driving electronic devices being provided for every corresponding group of said optical switch units, the driving electronic devices being mounted on the substrate.

7. The optical module as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the driving electronic devices are integrated on the substrate in the form of a bare chip.

8. The optical module as claimed in claim 6 , wherein wiring from each driving electronic device is grouped and integrated on the substrate.

9. The optical module as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the optical waveguide circuit comprises an optical switch.

10. The optical module as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the optical waveguide circuit comprises a variable optical attenuator.

11. The optical module as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the driving electronic devices comprise integrated circuits.

12. The optical module as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the driving electronic devices comprise a bare chip mounted on the optical waveguide circuit.

13. An optical module comprising:

an optical waveguide circuit mounted on a substrate, the optical waveguide circuit and the substrate being silica based, the optical waveguide circuit having a refractive index that can be varied by using a thermal-optic effect;

a plurality of optical switch units having heater elements mounted on the substrate and disposed adjacent the optical waveguide circuit, wherein the optical switch units are divided into separate multiple groups, one or more of the groups having a plurality of the optical switch units, each optical switch unit having at least two heater elements;

analog adjustable driving power supply circuits for supplying current to the heater elements of the optical switch units, wherein each analog adjustable driving power supply circuit is electrically connected to all of the optical switch units within a corresponding group, each one of the analog adjustable driving power supply circuits being electrically connected by a corresponding single shared line to all of the optical switch units of the corresponding group so as to supply current to the heater elements thereof; and

a plurality of driving electronic devices operatively coupled to the one or more optical switch units so as to selectively drive the heater elements to vary the refractive index of the optical waveguide circuit by thermal optic effect, the driving electronic devices being provided for every corresponding group of said optical switch units, the driving electronic devices being mounted on the substrate.