Abstract:
Methods and devices are provided for optical demultiplexing and optical multiplexing. An optical wavelength demultiplexer adapted to perform wavelength demultiplexing of an input optical signal containing a plurality of wavelengths is provided. A tuneable filter in combination with a device with a required free spectral range results in a tuneable demultiplexer arrangement which eliminates the need to inventory large numbers of different demultiplexers. Similarly, tuneable lasers in combination with a device with a required free spectral range result in a tuneable multiplexer arrangement.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The invention relates to methods and apparatuses for performing multiplexing functions on groups of optical signals, and performing demultiplexing functions on multi-channel optical signals.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    It is a common demultiplexing problem in optical systems to have an optical signal containing multiple wavelengths each at a different wavelength from which one or more individual channels must be extracted. The traditional solution to this problem has been to employ a wavelength specific demultiplexing device to extract the required wavelengths. Referring to FIG. 1, shown is an example of such a wavelength specific demultiplexer, generally indicated by  11 . The input to the demultiplexer is a group of wavelengths having wavelength λ 1 , . . . ,λ 64 . In order to extract four particular wavelengths, λ A ,λ B ,λ C ,λ D , the demultiplexer  11  is provided which extracts those specific wavelengths and passes them to respective receivers  12 , 14 , 16  and  18 . The demultiplexer  11  is specifically designed for the particular wavelengths λ A ,λ B ,λ C ,λ D  which are being extracted. Typically the demultiplexer  11  and four receivers  12 , 14 , 16  and  18  might be delivered on a card  10 . In order to allow the demultiplexing of any arbitrary four wavelengths from a set of a possible 64, it would be necessary to inventory 635,376 different such cards. More realistically perhaps, given the recent propensity towards grouping wavelengths into bands of consecutive wavelengths, in order to allow the demultiplexing of any consecutive group of four wavelengths in a 64 wavelength system, for example {λ 1 , . . . ,λ 4 }, {λ 5 , . . . λ 8 }, . . . , {λ 61 , . . . ,λ 64 } there would be a requirement to inventory 16 different demultiplexer cards.  
           [0003]    This same problem exists on the multiplexing side, namely that a large number of wavelength specific devices must be manufactured and inventoried in order to provide multiplexing flexibility.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    Methods and devices are provided for optical demultiplexing and optical multiplexing.  
           [0005]    According to one broad aspect, the invention provides an optical wavelength demultiplexer adapted to perform wavelength demultiplexing of an input optical signal containing a plurality of wavelengths. The demultiplexer has a tuneable filter adapted to filter the input optical signal to produce an output containing a selected subset of the plurality of wavelengths. There is also a band-modulo demultiplexer having a free spectral range, the band-modulo demultiplexer being connected to receive the output of the filter.  
           [0006]    In one embodiment of the invention, the tuneable bandpass filter has a passband width substantially equal to the free spectral range of the band-modulo demultiplexer.  
           [0007]    The wavelengths may be equally spaced in frequency. Alternatively, the wavelengths within a given band are equally spaced in frequency, with a guard band between bands. Alternatively, the wavelengths are not equally spaced, with the spacing in bands of wavelengths being equal to the spacing in each other band.  
           [0008]    In one embodiment of the invention, the band-modulo demultiplexer is a grating-based structure, for example an Eschelle grating based structure. In another embodiment, the band-modulo demultiplexer is an interleaver-based structure.  
           [0009]    Preferably, the demultiplexer is adapted to process an input signal having N wavelengths, wherein the N wavelengths are logically divided into K bands of M consecutive wavelengths each, where K×M=N, and wherein the demultiplexer is adapted to output individually all the wavelengths of a selected one of the K bands.  
           [0010]    According to another broad aspect, the invention provides an optical wavelength demultiplexer adapted to perform wavelength demultiplexing of an input optical signal containing a plurality of wavelengths. The demultiplexer has a band-modulo demultiplexer having a free spectral range, the band-modulo demultiplexer being connected to receive the input optical signal, and adapted to produce a plurality of intermediate output signals each containing one or more of the plurality of wavelengths each separated by the free spectral range. For each of at least one of the plurality of intermediate output signals, there is a respective tuneable filter adapted to filter the intermediate output signal to produce a selected subset of the intermediate output signal&#39;s one or more wavelength channels.  
           [0011]    Another broad aspect of the invention provides an optical wavelength multiplexer adapted to perform wavelength multiplexing of a plurality of input optical signals containing a plurality of wavelengths. The multiplexer has a band-modulo multiplexer having a free spectral range, the band-modulo multiplexer having a plurality of inputs with one input for each of the plurality of input optical signals, the band-modulo multiplexer producing a multiplexed output signal, the band-modulo multiplexer being adapted to combine as the multiplexed output signal for each input any input optical wavelengths in a respective predetermined set of possible wavelengths, each possible wavelength in the set being separated by the free spectral range. There is also provided at least one tuneable laser, each tuneable laser being connected to a respective input to the band-modulo multiplexer, and each tuneable laser being tuneable at least one and preferably all of the respective predetermined set of possible wavelengths.  
           [0012]    Another broad aspect of the invention provides an optical network node having at least one of the above described optical multiplexer and optical demultiplexer. Another embodiment provides an optical network having an interconnected plurality of such optical network nodes.  
           [0013]    In another broad aspect, the invention provides a method of wavelength management. Each of at least two optical network nodes is provided with at least one of a tuneable optical multiplexer and a tuneable optical demultiplexer, tuneability of the multiplexer being achieved through a combination of tuneable lasers and an FSR (free spectral range) device, and tuneability of the demultiplexer being achieved through a combination of tuneable bandpass filtering and an FSR device. After determining desired wavelengths to be added and/or dropped at each of the optical network nodes, each of the lasers and/or filters in each multiplexer and/or demultiplexer is tuned so that the desired wavelengths are added and/or dropped at each optical network node.  
           [0014]    Another broad aspect of the invention provides a method of performing optical wavelength demultiplexing. The method involves tuneably filtering an input optical signal containing a plurality of wavelengths to produce an output containing a selected subset of the plurality of wavelengths. Next, the method involves passing the selected subset of the plurality of wavelengths through a band-modulo demultiplexer having a free spectral range.  
           [0015]    Another broad aspect of the invention provides a method of performing optical wavelength multiplexing. The method involves tuning each of a plurality of lasers to a respective wavelength, each wavelength belonging to a respective predetermined set of possible wavelengths to produce a respective laser output. The method continues with multiplexing the laser outputs using a band-modulo multiplexer having a free spectral range. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]    Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings in which:  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional multi-wavelength demultiplexer;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an optical demultiplexer provided by an embodiment of the invention;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the band-modulo demultiplexer of FIG. 2;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an optical demultiplexer according to another embodiment of the invention;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an interleaver based band-modulo demultiplexer provided by another embodiment of the invention;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an optical multiplexer provided by another embodiment of the invention;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an optical network provided by another embodiment of the invention; and  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method of wavelength planning, provided by another embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0025]    Referring now to FIG. 2, shown is a block diagram of a demultiplexer according to an embodiment of the invention. The demultiplexer has an input optical transmission medium  20  adapted to contain a multi-band optical signal containing multiple wavelengths, λ 1 , . . . ,λ N . For example, there might be N=64 different wavelengths. The input optical transmission medium is connected to a tuneable bandpass filter  22 , the output  24  of which is connected to a band-modulo demultiplexer  26 .  
         [0026]    The input wavelengths λ 1 , . . . ,λ N  are logically divided into K bands B 1 , . . . ,B K  each containing M=N/K consecutive wavelengths of the input wavelengths λ 1 , . . . ,λ N  For example, for the N=64 wavelength embodiment, M might be four in which case there are K=64/4=16 bands of wavelengths, the first of which is B 1 =λ 1 , . . . ,λ 4 , the second of which is B 2 =λ 5 , . . . ,λ 8 , and the last of which is B 16 =λ 61 , . . . ,λ 64 . The tuneable bandpass filter  22  has a passband equal in width to the bands of wavelengths, and is tuneable such that it can be centered to have a passband which overlaps with any particular one of the K bands B 1 , . . . ,B K . Thus the output  24  of the tuneable band pass filter  22 , once tuned, consists of the wavelengths in a selected band B i  only. This output is connected to the band-modulo demultiplexer  26  which separates the wavelengths of the band B i  selected by the tuneable bandpass filter  22  into outputs  28  which are individual substituent wavelengths of the band B i .  
         [0027]    The band-modulo demultiplexer  26  is a device which takes as input a spectrum of wavelengths, preferably with constant channel spacing in frequency, and outputs to more than two ports such that each port outputs a different group of wavelengths that are separated by the FSR (free spectral range) of the device. The free spectral range of the device is the range of wavelengths in a given spectral order for which superposition of light from adjacent orders does not occur. Referring now to FIG. 3 which shows the behaviour of the band-modulo demultiplexer  26  in isolation, the band-modulo demultiplexer  26  has a single input  30  (received from output  24  when connected to filter  22 ), and has a number of outputs  32  (analogous to outputs  28  when the filter  22  is present) equal to the number M of wavelengths in each band. In the example described above, M is set equal to four. The band-modulo demultiplexer  26  performs a demultiplexing function of wavelengths modulo M=number of wavelengths in a band. The band-modulo demultiplexer  26  does not perform a demultiplexing function down to the individual wavelength, but rather outputs groups of wavelengths separated by M wavelengths (this being the FSR of the device). Assuming all possible N input wavelengths are input to the band-modulo demultiplexer, the outputs of the band-modulo demultiplexer may be summarized as follows:  
         [0028]    Output 1=λ 1 , λ M+1 , λ 2M+1 , . . . ,λ (K−1)M+1 .  
         [0029]    Output 2=λ 2 , λ M+2 , λ 2M+2 , . . . ,λ (K−1)M+2 .  
         [0030]    Output 3=λ 3 , λ M+3 , λ 2M+3 , . . . ,λ (K−1)M+3 .  
         [0031]    . . .  
         [0032]    Output M=λ M , λ 2M , λ 3M , . . . , λ KM .  
         [0033]    In embodiments in which bands are employed, preferably the FSR is set to equal the frequency spacing between corresponding wavelengths in each band. Using the above notation, the FSR will be set to equal the frequency of λ M+1  minus the frequency of λ 1  for example. In one embodiment, each of the N wavelengths are equally spaced in frequency.  
         [0034]    In another embodiment, the bands each contain M equally spaced frequencies, but a guard band is provided between bands.  
         [0035]    In another embodiment, the bands each contain M frequencies which are not equally spaced, but with the spacing of the frequencies within a given band being equal across bands. Guard bands can also be employed in this embodiment.  
         [0036]    Referring now again to FIG. 2, the tuneable band pass filter  22 , once tuned, serves to eliminate all of the wavelengths being input to the band-modulo demultiplexer  26  except the M wavelengths of a single band B i . The band-modulo demultiplexer  26  performs its modulo demultiplexing function on the wavelengths of the single band. Since no two of the input wavelengths are separated by more than the FSR of the demultiplexer  26 , each output of the band-modulo demultiplexer  26  contains only a single wavelength of the selected band B i . For example, if the tuneable band pass filter  22  is tuned to allow B 2 =λ M+1 , λ M+2 , . . . ,λ 2M  to be input to the band-modulo demultiplexer  26 , the band-modulo demultiplexer  26  separates each of these wavelengths into a separate respective output  28 .  
         [0037]    Advantageously, the arrangement of FIG. 2 can be mass-produced, and tuning the arrangement to produce a demultiplexer function specific to a particular band B i  simply involves tuning the tuneable band pass filter  22  to pass the particular band.  
         [0038]    Referring now to FIG. 4, in another embodiment of the invention, the band-modulo demultiplexer  26  of FIG. 3 is connected to receive an input optical signal  30  containing the wavelengths λ 1 , . . . ,λ N  so as to produce M outputs containing multiple wavelengths as described above. Each output is connected to a respective tuneable channel filter  40  (only two shown) which is tuneable to pass one or more of the multiple wavelengths it receives. For example, the first of the outputs  32  contains the “first” wavelength of each band B 1 , . . . B K . The tuneable channel filter  40  receiving that output can be tuned to extract any particular first wavelength. This allows the flexibility of choosing at each output any one of the respective group of wavelengths output by the band modulo demultiplexer. Advantageously, since the wavelengths input to each tuneable channel filter  40  are separated by at least the FSR of the band-modulo demultiplexer  26 , the design constraints/tolerances of the filter  40  are very relaxed.  
         [0039]    The above designs can be applied to any set of wavelengths of interest. In one example, the input set of wavelengths {λ 1 , . . . ,λ N } is in the lower C band (194.15 to 196.1 THz) with 50 GHz spacing between wavelength frequencies, with the longest and shortest wavelengths in a given band B i  differing in frequency by 350 GHz. This results in 5 bands B i  each containing 8 wavelengths for a total of 40 wavelengths. In this example, N=40, M=8, and K=5.  
         [0040]    In another example, the input set of wavelengths {λ 1 , . . . ,λ N } is in the upper C band (192.1 to 194.1 THz) with 50 GHz spacing between wavelength frequencies, with the longest and shortest wavelengths in a given band B i  differing in frequency by 400 GHz. This results in 5 bands B i  each containing 8 wavelengths for a total of 40 wavelengths. In this example, N=40, M=8 and K=5.  
         [0041]    The band-modulo demultiplexer  26  may be implemented using any suitable “FSR device”, this being any optical element or combination of elements which exhibit the required FSR. For example, in one embodiment, the band-modulo demultiplexer is a grating based structure, and preferably an Eschelle grating based structure. Eschelle gratings are available for example from Metro Photonics Inc. of Ottawa, Canada. Conventionally, the FSR has been thought of as a limitation of the usefulness of Eshelle gratings. By designing an Eschelle grating having a free spectral range equal to the wavelength separation of wavelengths output by a given channel, the required band-modulo demultiplexing function is achieved. Preferably, the FSR is substantially equal to the bandpass width of the tuneable bandpass filter. In another embodiment, the FSR is smaller than the bandpass width of the tuneable bandpass filter in which case each output may have more than one wavelength. For example, having the FSR equal to one half the bandpass width of the tuneable bandpass filter will result in each output of the arrangement containing two wavelengths separated by the FSR.  
         [0042]    In another embodiment, the FSR is broader than the passband width of the tuneable bandpass filter. This will result in gaps in the set of wavelengths which are demultiplexible by the arrangement. This can be employed to provide a guard band of one or more wavelengths between bands of interest.  
         [0043]    In another embodiment, the band-modulo demultiplexer  26  of FIGS. 2 and 3 is an interleaver-based structure. Referring to FIG. 5, an interleaver-based design for the case N=64 (64 wavelengths in total), K=16 (sixteen bands), and M=4 (four wavelengths in each band) is generally indicated by  49 . The input optical signal potentially having any of 64 possible wavelengths {λ 1 , . . . ,λ 64 } is fed to a first interleaver  52  which separates the wavelengths into an output  54  carrying the odd wavelengths {λ 1 ,λ 3 , . . . ,λ 63 } and an output  56  carrying the even wavelengths {λ 2 ,λ 4 , . . . ,λ 64 }. The two outputs  54 , 56  are connected to respective interleavers  60 , 62 . Interleaver  60  further interleaves the odd wavelengths to produce output  64  carrying {λ 1 ,λ 5 , . . . ,λ 61 } and output  66  carrying {λ 3 ,λ 7 , . . . ,λ 63 } Similarly, interleaver  62  further interleaves the even wavelengths to produce output  68  carrying {λ 2 ,λ 6 , . . . ,λ 62 } and output  69  carrying {λ 4 ,λ 8 , . . . ,λ 64 }. The overall interleaver based structure  49  is a band-modulo demultiplexer having an FSR of four times the wavelength frequency separation. A specific interleaver based example has been presented for particular values of N,K,M. However, it is to be understood that a suitable interleaver based structure could be developed for arbitrary values of N,K,M. The interleaver-based FSER device of FIG. 5 in combination with the preceding tuneable filter (as discussed previously with reference to FIG. 2) or in combination with following tuneable filters (as discussed previously with reference to FIG. 4) provide the tuneable demultiplexer functionality.  
         [0044]    Referring now to FIG. 6, shown is a block diagram of an optical multiplexer according to an embodiment of the invention. The multiplexer has a band-modulo multiplexer  74  which is essentially the reciprocal function of the previously discussed band-modulo demultiplexer. The band-modulo multiplexer  74  takes a group of wavelengths that are separated from each other by the free spectral range into more than two ports  72  such that each port intakes a different group of wavelengths. More specifically, the inputs are capable of multiplexing the following wavelengths:  
         [0045]    Input 1=any combination of λ 1 , λ M+1 , λ 2M+1 , . . . ,λ (K−1)M+1 .  
         [0046]    Input 2=any combination of λ 2 , λ M+2 , λ 2M+2 , . . . ,λ (K−1)M+2 .  
         [0047]    Input 3=any combination of λ 3 , λ M+3 , λ 2M+3 , . . . ,λ (K−1)M+3 .  
         [0048]    . . .  
         [0049]    Input M=any combination of λ M , λ 2M , λ 3M , . . . , λ KM .  
         [0050]    Wavelengths input to the wrong port are attenuated and lost.  
         [0051]    The band-modulo multiplexer  74  outputs at output  76  all the input wavelengths in wavelength order. A tuneable laser  70  may be applied to any one of the input ports  72  with one of the multiple wavelengths available at the port. For example, on the second input port, one can transmit the second wavelength for any of one of the supported bands. The output of the wavelengths produced at output  76  may not all fall in the same band depending on the input wavelengths.  
         [0052]    Another embodiment of the invention provides an optical network node per se equipped with either the above described optical multiplexer, the above described optical demultiplexer, or both. Such an optical network node is flexible in that the particular wavelengths to be added and/or dropped by the node can be selected by appropriate tuning of either the multiplexer and/or the demultiplexer.  
         [0053]    Another embodiment of the invention provides an optical network in which at least some of the optical network nodes are equipped with either the above described optical multiplexer, the above described optical demultiplexer, or both. Referring now to FIG. 7, shown is an example network provided by this embodiment of the invention which a number of ONNs (optical network nodes)  100 , 102 , 104  (only three shown) interconnected by optical network links  106 , 108 , 110 . One or both of the previously described optical multiplexer and optical demultiplexer is installed in each of the optical network nodes  100 , 102 , 104 , generally indicated as multiplexer/demultiplexer (mux/demux)  112 , 114 , 116 . Such an optical network is flexible in that the particular wavelengths to be added and/or dropped by each node can be selected by appropriate tuning of either the multiplexer and/or the demultiplexer.  
         [0054]    Yet another embodiment of the invention provides a method of wavelength management. Referring now to FIG. 8, the method involves first providing each of at least two optical network nodes with either or both of the above described multiplexer and demultiplexer capability using a tuneable multiplexer, and/or a tuneable demultiplexer (step  8 - 1 ). Preferably, this is done in each of the optical network nodes in an optical network. Next, after determining desired wavelengths to be added and/or dropped at each of the optical network nodes, each the filters in each multiplexer and/or demultiplexer are tuned so that the desired wavelengths are added and/or dropped at each optical network node (step  8 - 2 ). The step of tuning the multiplexer and/or demultiplexer may be done prior to network interconnection, or after network interconnection, and advantageously may be optionally repeated when the wavelength plan for the network is changed for any reason (step  8 - 3 ).  
         [0055]    Numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practised otherwise than as specifically described herein.