Wavelength division multiplexing transmission equipment

1. An optical transmission network comprising:

a provider-side equipment comprising a multi-wavelength source, a first wavelength selective routing element connected to the multi-wavelength source, and a second wavelength selective routing element; and

a client-side equipment for manipulating electrical signals comprising an optical modulator connected to the first wavelength selective routing element and an optical receiver, the optical modulator configured to receive the electrical signals from the optical receiver, wherein laser transmitters are excluded from the client-side equipment,

wherein the second wavelength selective routing element is connected to the optical receiver and is configured to direct incoming optical signals to the optical receiver, and

wherein the first wavelength selective routing element is connected to the optical modulator and is configured to provide a wavelength for modulating outgoing optical signals directly to the optical modulator, the wavelength for modulating outgoing optical signals being independent of wavelengths of the incoming optical signals.

2. The optical transmission network as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the optical modulator comprises a reflective optical modulator.

3. The optical transmission network as claimed in claim 2 , further comprising a plurality of client-side equipment, wherein each of the plurality of client-side equipment comprises a client side card, and wherein the first wavelength selective routing element is connected to the reflective optical modulator of each client side card by a single optical fiber to allow the first wavelength selective routing element to be used to distribute signals to each optical modulator and combine signals from each optical modulator.

4. The optical transmission network as defined in claim 2 , wherein the reflective optical modulator comprises a reflective electro-absorption modulator.

5. The optical transmission network as claimed in claim 2 , capable of operating at a data rate of at least 10Gbit/s.

6. The optical transmission network as defined in claim 1 , wherein the optical modulator is an integrated combination of a semiconductor optical amplifier and a reflective electro-absorption modulator.

7. The optical transmission network as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the optical modulator comprises a reflective Michelson modulator.

8. The optical transmission network as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the modulator comprises a Mach-Zehnder modulator.

9. The optical transmission network as defined in claim 1 , wherein the optical modulator comprises an optical phase modulator.

10. The optical transmission network as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising an optical circulator for separating a continuous wave signal produced by the multi-wavelength source feeding into the first wavelength selective routing element from a modulated signal returning from the first wavelength selective routing element passed to the one or more remote locations.

11. The optical transmission network as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the multi-wavelength source comprises an array of reflective semiconductor optical amplifiers coupled to an array waveguide grating device and sharing a common output mirror.

12. The optical transmission network as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the multi-wavelength source comprises an integrated array of reflective semiconductor optical amplifiers hybrid-integrated with a silica on silicon planar optical integrated circuit containing one or more array waveguide grating elements and associated connecting waveguides.

13. The optical transmission network as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the multi-wavelength source comprises one or more multi-wavelength lasers and wherein an output from the one or more multi-wavelength lasers is shared between modulators connected to several transmission paths.

14. The optical transmission network as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each output from the first selective wavelength routing element is connected to a third wavelength routing element with a coarser channel spacing than the first wavelength selective routing element, the third wavelength routing element being connected to a set of reflective optical modulators located within the client-side equipment,

wherein modulated signals from each set of reflective optical modulators are recombined in the third wavelength routing element before being recombined with signals from other sets of optical modulators within the first selective wavelength routing device before onward transmission to the one or more remote locations, and

wherein incoming signals from the one or more remote locations are connected by an optical fiber to the second wavelength selective routing element which directs signals to a fourth wavelength selective routing element with a coarser channel spacing than the second wavelength selective routing element, the fourth wavelength selective routing element being located within the client-side equipment.

15. The optical transmission network as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first wavelength selective routing element or the second wavelength selective routing element comprises a planar integrated waveguide device, and wherein the integrated waveguide device is an array waveguide grating.

16. The optical transmission network as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first wavelength selective routing element or the second wavelength selective routing element comprises a thin film based optical device.

17. The optical transmission network as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising an optical space switch used to provide a reconfigurable interconnection between outputs of the first wavelength selective routing element and optical connections made to the client-side equipment.

18. The optical transmission network as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising an optical space switch providing a reconfigurable interconnection between a plurality of wavelength selective routing elements and optical connections made to the client side equipment, wherein each of the plurality of wavelength selective routing elements is connected to a separate fiber transmission path.

19. The optical transmission network as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first wavelength selective routing element is configured to provide the wavelength for modulating outgoing optical signals directly to the optical modulator of the client-side equipment by:

providing the wavelength for modulating outgoing optical signals to an intermediate optical element positioned in-between the first wavelength selective router and the optical modulator of the client-side equipment, the wavelength being relayed from the first wavelength selective router to the optical modulator of the client-side equipment without being processed by an active optical component.

20. A provider-side equipment comprising:

a multi-wavelength source;

a first wavelength selective routing element coupled to the multi-wavelength source; and

a second wavelength selective routing element configured to direct incoming optical signals to an optical receiver in a client-side equipment, wherein the client-side equipment excludes laser transmitters,

wherein the first wavelength selective routing element is configured to provide a wavelength for modulating outgoing optical signals directly to an optical modulator of the client-side equipment, the wavelength for modulating outgoing optical signals being independent of wavelengths of the incoming optical signals, and

wherein the first wavelength selective router provides the wavelength for modulating outgoing optical signals directly to the optical modulator of the client-side equipment by providing the wavelength for modulating outgoing optical signals to an intermediate optical element positioned in-between the first wavelength selective router and the optical modulator of the client-side equipment, the wavelength being relayed from the first wavelength selective router to the optical modulator of the client-side equipment without being processed by an active optical component.