Method and apparatus for referencing a MEMS device
Granted: January 18, 2011
Patent Number:
7872735
A method and an apparatus for calibrating a MEMS actuator of a hybrid MEMS-PLC optical switch or router is described. Two calibrating waveguides, embedded monolithically adjacent to the waveguides that provide the PLC output functions, are used for referencing a MEMS mirror tilt angle by maximizing optical coupling of light, reflected off the MEMS mirror, into one or each of the two calibrating waveguides. The input light is provided by either a waveguide carrying a live optical signal,…
System and method for test probe management
Granted: January 11, 2011
Patent Number:
7868780
Individual probe management is accomplished in a measurement system by communicating configuration data to each probe based on that probe's received metadata. In one embodiment, the configuration data is sent from a server and the server does not keep track of the probe's configuration. The configuration data can be, for example, parameters used to directly configure the probe or software modules for running on the probe.
MWS drift feedback compensator using VOA and input power dithering
Granted: January 4, 2011
Patent Number:
7865079
The invention relates to a compensator of attenuation drift in an optical multi-wavelength switch (MWS) which uses input signal amplitude dither and external VOA dither cancellation to determine relative position of MEMS micro mirror hence indirectly determining attenuation level.
Optical pick-up unit
Granted: December 28, 2010
Patent Number:
7859977
An optical pick-up including a fold mirror having an achromatic quarter-wave plate coating is provided. To allow the thin film coating to efficiently provide the quarter-wave retardation, the optical pick-up is configured such that the polarization of light incident on the fold mirror is at a predetermined angle. According to one embodiment, the predetermined angle is provided by rotating the light sources. According to another embodiment, the predetermined angle is provided by rotating…
System and method for network traffic and I/O transaction monitoring of a high speed communications network
Granted: December 28, 2010
Patent Number:
7860965
A network monitoring architecture and methodology enabling performance detection and diagnostics in storage area networks or other networks. The network monitoring is performed using a three-tiered distributed computing system architecture, including a data source tier, a portal tier and a client tier. The data source tier monitors the physical data on the network medium using multiple data collection sources, or data probes, connected to the network. The probes analyze network data and…
Scanning spectrometer with multiple photodetectors
Granted: December 14, 2010
Patent Number:
7852475
A scanning optical spectrometer with a detector array is disclosed, in which position of focused spot of light at the input of a dispersive element such as arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) with a slab input, is scanned using a micro-electro-mechanical (MEMS) tiltable micromirror so as to make the dispersed spectrum of light scan over the detector array coupled to the AWG. Sub-spectra recorded using individual detectors are concatenated by a processor unit to obtain the spectrum of input…
Thin-film design for positive and/or negative C-plate
Granted: December 7, 2010
Patent Number:
7848020
Thin-film coatings, which for example have alternating layers of high and low refractive index materials, are shown to function as both positive and negative C-plates, in dependence upon the incident radiation. In particular, the shape of the retardance versus angle of incidence profile is found to be determined, at least in part, by the phase thickness of the thin film coating (i.e., the optical thickness in terms of the wavelength of the incident radiation, which may, for example, be…
Passively Q-switched laser with adjustable pulse repetition rate
Granted: November 30, 2010
Patent Number:
7843978
A method is disclosed for varying a pulse repetition rate of a passively q-switched laser while maintaining other characteristics of the laser radiation. The laser is optically pumped with a sequence of pump pulses which includes alterations between non-zero power levels and is characterized by two adjustable parameters. By simultaneously changing the adjustable parameters, the pulse repetition rate of the laser can be changed while maintaining the laser pulse energy, divergence of the…
Humidity tolerant electro-optic device
Granted: November 30, 2010
Patent Number:
7844149
The invention relates to an electro-optic modulator structure containing an additional set of bias electrodes buried within the device for applying bias to set the operating point. Thus the RF electrodes used to modulate incoming optical signals can be operated with zero DC bias, reducing electrode corrosion by galvanic and other effects that can be present in non-hermetic packages. The bias electrodes are at least partially separated from the substrate with a buffer layer, which in one…
Avalanche photodiode with edge breakdown suppression
Granted: November 16, 2010
Patent Number:
7834379
The invention relates to an avalanche photodiode having enhanced gain uniformity enabled by a tailored diffused p-n junction profile. The tailoring is achieved by a two stage doping process incorporating a solid source diffusion in combination with conventional gas source diffusion. The solid source diffusion material is selected for its solubility to the dopant compared to the solubility of the multiplication layer to dopant. The solid source has a diameter between the first and second…
Real time segmentation and reassembly of asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) adaptation layer two (AAL2) and AAL5 data
Granted: November 9, 2010
Patent Number:
7830893
A system for reassembling asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) data in real time is disclosed. In one embodiment, the system for reassembling ATM data in real time comprises a circular buffer for storing ATM data, the ATM data comprising information divided into cells, and a plurality of parallel processing elements configured to analyze the ATM cells and determine a cell type, wherein ATM adaptation layer (AAL) 2 cells and AAL 5 cells are reassembled in real-time.
Laser diode
Granted: November 9, 2010
Patent Number:
7830938
The present invention provides a laser diode having both a small vertical far-field beam divergence and a large vertical optical confinement factor, as well as a method of fabricating the laser diode. The laser diode comprises a layer stack of semiconductor material, which includes a mode-splitting layer having a low refractive index inserted between waveguide layers. In addition to increasing the vertical near-field beam width of the laser diode, the mode-splitting layer also produces a…
Circuit and method for lessening noise in a laser system having a frequency converting element
Granted: November 2, 2010
Patent Number:
7826502
A method and circuit is disclosed for a laser system wherein the power of the laser signal is kept at a constant near optimum value and a portion of an frequency doubled output signal is monitored and detected so that noise within the frequency doubled output signal can be minimized. A feedback signal is used to dither the temperature of a frequency doubled crystal so as to minimize the noise in the frequency doubled output signal.
Mounted semiconductor device and a method for making the same
Granted: October 19, 2010
Patent Number:
7816155
A method for mounting a semiconductor device onto a composite substrate, including a submount and a heat sink, is described. According to one aspect of the invention, the materials for the submount and the heat sink are chosen so that the value of coefficient of thermal expansion of the semiconductor device is in between the values of coefficients of thermal expansion of the materials of the submount and the heat sink, the thickness of the submount being chosen so as to equalize thermal…
MEMS device with an angular vertical comb actuator
Granted: October 19, 2010
Patent Number:
7817331
A vertical comb electro-static actuator for rotating a micro-electro-mechanical micro-mirror device about a tilt axis or rotation. The rotor comb fingers of the comb drive extend from a sub-frame of the micro-mirror, which includes a prestressed layer for bending the rotor comb fingers at an angle to the substrate and mirrored platform, enabling the platform, the hinges, the rotor comb fingers and the stator comb fingers to be formed in the same layer, i.e. the same etching step.
Compacting of frames in a network diagnostic device
Granted: October 19, 2010
Patent Number:
7817555
A network diagnostic component that is placed in-line between two nodes in a network to reorder or compact a data frame to allow the network diagnostic component to interpret the data frame. The network diagnostic component receives a network data frame from the first node for communication with the second node. The network data frame may include a plurality of data units interspersed with one or more non-data units that interrupt the proximity and flow of the data units. The network…
Troubleshooting a specific voice over internet protocol (VOIP) telephone call transmitted over a communications network
Granted: October 19, 2010
Patent Number:
7817567
Network analyzers (NAs) monitor respectively corresponding communication lines through which Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) data streams are transmitted. A network troubleshooting center (NTC) communicates with the NAs to provide quality of service statistics for data streams transmitted through the communication lines and associated with a respective telephone call.
Multi-stage optical isolator
Granted: October 12, 2010
Patent Number:
7813040
A double stage isolator is formed of face-to-face slabs or sheets of materials that will suitably split, combine, non-reciprocally rotate to ensure isolation in a reverse direction from output ports to respective input ports of any light launched into the input ports. A right angled Porro-prism is disposed at an end of the affixed together slabs having planar faces to direct light launched in a folded fashion to the output ports. A half waveplate is used in addition to beam splitter…
Optical fiber holder and heat sink
Granted: October 5, 2010
Patent Number:
7809236
An optical fiber holding device is disclosed having an optical fiber held therein. The device has a base with a spiral channel in an upper surface holding and housing the optical fiber. The channel has a first location where the fiber enters leading to a plurality of turnings for holding the optical fiber wrapped therearound at another end a second location where the fiber exits the channel wherein the bend radius of the optical fiber housed within the spiral channel is at least 2 cm.…
Low-noise optical transmitter
Granted: September 28, 2010
Patent Number:
7802930
A device comprising: an optical subassembly has a lens rear surface including one or more facets for scattering at least some of the light transmitted through the lens rear surface.
