Patent ID: 6954265
Filing Date: 2005-10-11
Classification: G02B

Abstract:
1. An alignment system for aligning an end of an optical fiber with an input of an optical waveguide of an optical device, the system comprising: a lens that receives light from an output of the optical waveguide, and focuses the received light into a light beam, the optical waveguide corresponding to an optical path extending from the input of the optical waveguide, through the optical device to the output of the optical waveguide; a single optical sensor, the optical sensor receiving the focused light beam, the optical sensor converting the light beam focused thereon by the lens into corresponding electrical signals; and processing logic, the processing logic receiving the electrical signals and processing the electric signals to determine whether or not said end of the optical fiber is aligned with the input of the optical waveguide; wherein if the processing logic determines that said end of the optical fiber is not aligned with the input of the optical waveguide, the processing logic generates a feedback signal that is sent to a motion control system that controls the spatial positioning of the end of the optical fiber, and wherein when the feedback signal is received by the motion control system, the motion control system adjusts a spatial positioning of the end of the optical fiber in accordance with the received feedback signal; wherein the single optical sensor is a single photodiode, and wherein the lens focuses the light received thereby from the output of the optical waveguide onto the photodiode and the photodiode converts the light focused thereon into said corresponding electrical signals that are processed by the processing logic to determine whether or not the end of the optical fiber is aligned with the input of the optical waveguide, the photodiode being capable of seeing outputs of multiple optical waveguides; wherein the processing logic determines whether or not the end of the optical fiber is aligned with the input of the optical waveguide by performing an alignment algorithm, and wherein the alignment algorithm receives the electrical signals generated by the single photodiode after the electrical signals generated by the photodiode have been processed by an electrical processing circuit of the processing logic, and wherein the alignment algorithm analyzes the processed electrical signals and determines whether or not the end of the optical fiber is aligned with the input of the optical waveguide, wherein if the alignment algorithm determines that the end of the optical fiber is not aligned with the input of the optical waveguide, the processing logic performing the alignment algorithm generates and sends a feedback signal to the motion control system that cause the motion control system to adjust the spatial positioning of the end of the optical fiber; and wherein, in order to determine whether the end of the optical fiber is aligned with the input of the optical waveguide, the motion control system causes the end of the optical fiber to be scanned across one or more layers of the optical device in accordance with the feedback signals received by the motion control system until the processing logic determines that a layer in which the optical waveguide exists has been found, and wherein after the processing logic determines that the layer in which the optical waveguide exists has been found, the processing logic generates and sends feedback signals to the motion control system to cause the motion control system to scan the end of the optical fiber along the layer in which the optical waveguide exists until the processing logic determines the location of the input of the optical waveguide within the layer in which the optical waveguide has been determined to exist.