Patent Description:
In an optical communication long-distance transmission network, optical-to-electrical conversion in a system link tends to be reduced. It becomes increasingly difficult to directly test a bit error rate at an electrical layer, and it is not conducive to fault locating when the bit error rate is tested only at a link terminal. As a transmission capacity is increased and flexibility is improved in an optical network, system complexity is becoming increasingly higher. To effectively control and manage an optical network, optical performance monitoring (Optical Performance Monitoring, OPM) is increasingly more important for high-speed dense wavelength division multiplexing (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplex, DWDM) signals in the optical network.

Further, <CIT> refers to a fault detecting apparatus and method for a network node of an optical transmission system that receives a wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) optical signal, which includes a group of optical channels. The network node includes an optical demultiplexer, optical switch, optical multiplexer, and an optical channel add/drop device. Supervisory optical signals having a different wavelength than the wavelengths of the group of optical channels are generated and spliced with each optical channel by the optical demultiplexer. The supervisory channel optical power is tapped off at various points in the network node, such as the output optical channels of the demultiplexer, dropped optical channel outputs, output optical channels from the optical switch, and the output WDM optical signal of the multiplexer. The supervisory channels are monitored by a wavemeter for bypass lightpaths and dropped lightpaths. Added optical channels are monitored by monitoring a portion of the signal power in the added lightpath of the added optical channel. If the wavemeter detects the absence of the supervisory signal, or the portion of the added optical channel, this indicates a fault condition and the network control is notified to effect correction of the fault.

Further, <CIT> refers to a ring topology network, a number of nodes interconnect transmission links to form first and second working rings and first and second optical protection rings in a ring topology. Multiple working paths are established on each working ring and multiple protection paths are established on each protection ring corresponding to the working paths. A first working path spans across first and second nodes for transmission of a signal in a first direction of the ring topology, and a second working path of the second working ring spans across the first and second nodes for transmission of a signal in a second direction of the ring topology opposite to the first direction A first protection path on the first protection ring spans across the first and second nodes for transmission of a signal in the second direction of the ring topology, and a second protection path of the second protection ring spans across the first and second nodes for transmission of a signal in the first direction of the ring topology. The first and second nodes normally use the first and second working paths, respectively. Responsive to a failure of one of the first and second working paths, the first and second nodes use a corresponding one of the first and second protection paths, instead of the failed working path. Further, <CIT> refers to an optical transmission apparatus, wherein optical power of each of wavelength contained in a wavelength multiplexing signal is measured, a measured value of the optical power of each wavelength is compared with a predetermined threshold value, a total value of the measured values of the optical power, which are equal to or larger than the threshold value, is calculated as a total value of signal beam power, and a total value of the measured values of the optical power, which are less then the threshold value, is calculated as a total value of ASE power. The number of the measured values of the optical power, which are equal to or larger than the threshold value, is calculated as a wavelength count of the signal beams contained in the wavelength multiplexing signal. A signal-to-ASE ratio is calculated from the total value of the signal beam power and the total value of the ASE power. The optical power of the wavelength multiplexing signal inputted to an optical amplifier is measured, and a target value of the automatic level control (ALC) is determined by using the measured values of the wavelength count, the signal-to-ASE ratio and the optical power of the wavelength multiplexing signal in order to execute the ALC of the optical amplifier, so that the optical power of each of the wavelengths in the wavelength multiplexing signal outputted from the optical amplifier, becomes constant.

Currently, in a solution of performing OPM, an external OPM module is used outside a wavelength selective switch (Wavelength Selective Switch, WSS), and some of optical signals originally input to the WSS are input to the OPM module. The OPM module may perform wavelength demultiplexing on the input optical signals in a time or space dimension, so as to implement single-wavelength performance monitoring. However, additionally arranging the OPM module outside the WSS significantly increases a system size, which is not conducive to system miniaturization.

Embodiments of this application provide an optical switch and an optical performance monitoring method based on an optical switch. An optical monitoring apparatus is integrated into the optical switch, and an existing apparatus in the optical switch may be reused to perform optical performance monitoring on a demultiplexed optical signal, so as to implement system miniaturization. This problem is solved by the subject matter of the independent claims. Further implementation forms are provided in the dependent claims.

According to a first aspect, this application provides an optical switch, including at least one first port, at least one second port, a first wavelength division multiplexing WDM apparatus, an optical splitter, an optical monitoring apparatus, and an optical switching apparatus. The first port is configured to transmit an input first optical signal to the first WDM apparatus, where the first optical signal is a multi-wavelength signal.

The first WDM apparatus is configured to demultiplex the first optical signal. The optical splitter is configured to split a demultiplexed first optical signal to obtain a first sub-signal and a second sub-signal. The optical switching apparatus is configured to perform optical switching on the first sub-signal. The second port is configured to output a first sub-signal obtained after optical switching. The optical monitoring apparatus is configured to perform optical performance monitoring on the second sub-signal.

In this implementation, the optical splitter may split the demultiplexed optical signal into two bundles of signals, where one bundle of signals is input to the optical switching apparatus for optical switching, and the other bundle of signals is input to the optical monitoring apparatus for optical performance monitoring. In this design manner, the optical monitoring apparatus is integrated into the optical switch, and an existing apparatus in the optical switch may be reused to perform optical performance monitoring on the demultiplexed optical signal, so as to implement system miniaturization.

In some possible implementations, spots of the first sub-signal distributed on the optical switching apparatus are the same as spots of the second sub-signal distributed on the optical monitoring apparatus. It should be understood that, to minimize crosstalk, maximize a separation degree, and optimize distribution linearity between wavelength signals, spots of the wavelength signals distributed on the optical switching apparatus are minimum. Therefore, spots of the wavelength signals distributed on the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM> are also minimum, so that overlapping between the spots is avoided, and monitoring is easy.

In some possible implementations, the optical switch further includes a beam shaping apparatus. The beam shaping apparatus is configured to shape the input first optical signal. The first WDM apparatus is specifically configured to demultiplex a shaped first optical signal. In this implementation, shaping a beam may reduce a beam divergence angle and improve beam quality.

In some possible implementations, the optical switch further includes a beam collimation apparatus. The beam collimation apparatus is configured to perform beam collimation on the demultiplexed first optical signal. The optical splitter is specifically configured to split a beam-collimated first optical signal to obtain the first sub-signal and the second sub-signal. In this implementation, demultiplexed wavelength signals may be spatially angularly separated. Therefore, beam collimation on each demultiplexed wavelength signal may facilitate convergence of each wavelength signal to the optical splitter.

In some possible implementations, the optical switch further includes a second WDM apparatus. The second WDM apparatus is configured to multiplex the first sub-signal obtained after optical switching. The second port is specifically configured to output a multiplexed first sub-signal. It should be understood that, after optical switching is completed, wavelength signals also need to be multiplexed before being output, and multiplexing is implemented by using the second WDM apparatus, thereby improving practicality of this solution.

In some possible implementations, the second port is further configured to transmit an input second optical signal to the second WDM apparatus, where the second optical signal is a multi-wavelength signal. The second WDM apparatus is further configured to demultiplex the second optical signal. The optical switching apparatus is further configured to perform optical switching on a demultiplexed second optical signal. The optical splitter is further configured to split a second optical signal obtained after optical switching to obtain a third sub-signal and a fourth sub-signal. The first WDM apparatus is further configured to multiplex the third sub-signal. The first port is further configured to output a multiplexed third sub-signal. The optical monitoring apparatus is configured to perform optical performance monitoring on the fourth sub-signal. In this implementation, ports on two sides of the optical switch may be mutually input and output ports. In this case, the optical switching apparatus may perform optical switching on optical signals in two different directions, and the optical monitoring apparatus may also perform optical performance monitoring on optical signals in two different directions, thereby improving scalability of this solution.

In some possible implementations, the optical monitoring apparatus is specifically configured to monitor optical power of each wavelength signal in the second sub-signal. Alternatively, the optical monitoring apparatus is specifically configured to monitor a frequency offset of each wavelength signal in the second sub-signal. It should be understood that optical performance monitoring may include monitoring of a plurality of parameters, such as optical power and an optical signal-to-noise ratio (Optical Signal to Noise Ratio, OSNR). These parameters become important content of optical performance monitoring, and contribute to damage suppression, fault locating, degradation probing, backup, recovery, and the like of an optical network, thereby facilitating stable operation of the optical network.

In some possible implementations, types of the optical monitoring apparatus include at least a photodiode array (Photo diode Array, PDA), a charge coupled device (Charge Coupled Device, CCD), and a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor, CMOS). A type of the first WDM apparatus includes at least a grating. Types of the optical switching apparatus include at least a liquid crystal on silicon (Liquid Crystal on Silicon, LCOS) and a micro-electro-mechanical system (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System, MEMS).

According to a second aspect, this application provides an optical switch, including at least one first port, at least one second port, a first wavelength division multiplexing WDM apparatus, an optical splitter, an optical monitoring apparatus, and an optical switching apparatus. The first port is configured to transmit an input first optical signal to the first WDM apparatus, where the first optical signal is a multi-wavelength signal. The first WDM apparatus is configured to demultiplex the first optical signal. The optical switching apparatus is configured to perform optical switching on the first optical signal. The optical splitter is configured to split a first optical signal obtained after optical switching to obtain a first sub-signal and a second sub-signal. The second port is configured to output the first sub-signal. The optical monitoring apparatus is configured to perform optical performance monitoring on the second sub-signal.

It may be understood that, different from the optical switch provided in the first aspect in which each demultiplexed wavelength signal is first split and then separately undergoes optical switching and optical monitoring, in the optical switch provided in the second aspect, each demultiplexed wavelength signal may first undergo optical switching. After optical switching, the wavelength signal is split. One bundle of signals obtained after splitting is output from the second port, and the other bundle of signals is input to the optical monitoring apparatus for optical performance monitoring. Thus, a structure of the optical switch provided in this application is enriched.

In some possible implementations, spots of the first optical signal distributed on the optical switching apparatus are the same as spots of the second sub-signal distributed on the optical monitoring apparatus.

In some possible implementations, the optical switch further includes a beam shaping apparatus. The beam shaping apparatus is configured to shape the input first optical signal. The first WDM apparatus is specifically configured to demultiplex a shaped first optical signal.

In some possible implementations, the optical switch further includes a beam collimation apparatus. The beam collimation apparatus is configured to perform beam collimation on the demultiplexed first optical signal. The optical switching apparatus is specifically configured to perform optical switching on a beam-collimated first optical signal.

In some possible implementations, the optical switch further includes a second WDM apparatus. The second WDM apparatus is configured to multiplex the first sub-signal. The second port is specifically configured to output a multiplexed first sub-signal.

In some possible implementations, the second port is further configured to transmit an input second optical signal to the second WDM apparatus, where the second optical signal is a multi-wavelength signal. The second WDM apparatus is further configured to demultiplex the second optical signal. The optical splitter is further configured to split a demultiplexed second optical signal to obtain a third sub-signal and a fourth sub-signal. The optical switching apparatus is further configured to perform optical switching on the third sub-signal. The first port is further configured to output a third sub-signal obtained after optical switching. The optical monitoring apparatus is further configured to perform optical performance monitoring on the fourth sub-signal.

In some possible implementations, the optical monitoring apparatus is specifically configured to monitor optical power of each wavelength signal in the second sub-signal. Alternatively, the optical monitoring apparatus is specifically configured to monitor a frequency offset of each wavelength signal in the second sub-signal.

In some possible implementations, types of the optical monitoring apparatus include at least a PDA, a CCD, and a CMOS. A type of the first WDM apparatus includes at least a grating. Types of the optical switching apparatus include at least an LCOS and an MEMS.

According to a third aspect, this application provides an optical performance monitoring method based on an optical switch, where the optical switch includes at least one first port, at least one second port, a first wavelength division multiplexing WDM apparatus, an optical splitter, an optical monitoring apparatus, and an optical switching apparatus. The method includes: transmitting an input first optical signal to the first WDM apparatus by using the first port, where the first optical signal is a multi-wavelength signal; demultiplexing the first optical signal by using the first WDM apparatus; splitting a demultiplexed first optical signal by using the optical splitter to obtain a first sub-signal and a second sub-signal; performing optical switching on the first sub-signal by using the optical switching apparatus; outputting, by using the second port, a first sub-signal obtained after optical switching; and performing optical performance monitoring on the second sub-signal by using the optical monitoring apparatus.

In some possible implementations, spots of the first sub-signal distributed on the optical switching apparatus are the same as spots of the second sub-signal distributed on the optical monitoring apparatus.

In some possible implementations, the optical switch further includes a beam shaping apparatus. The method further includes: shaping the input first optical signal by using the beam shaping apparatus; and specifically demultiplexing a shaped first optical signal by using the first WDM apparatus.

In some possible implementations, the optical switch further includes a beam collimation apparatus. The method further includes: performing beam collimation on a demultiplexed first optical signal by using the beam collimation apparatus; and specifically splitting a beam-collimated first optical signal by using the optical splitter, to obtain the first sub-signal and the second sub-signal.

In some possible implementations, the optical switch further includes a second WDM apparatus. The method further includes: multiplexing, by using the second WDM apparatus, the first sub-signal obtained after optical switching; and outputting a multiplexed first sub-signal by using the second port.

In some possible implementations, the method further includes: transmitting an input second optical signal to the second WDM apparatus by using the second port, where the second optical signal is a multi-wavelength signal; demultiplexing the second optical signal by using the second WDM apparatus; performing optical switching on a demultiplexed second optical signal by using the optical switching apparatus; splitting, by using the optical splitter, a second optical signal obtained after optical switching to obtain a third sub-signal and a fourth sub-signal; multiplexing the third sub-signal by using the first WDM apparatus; outputting a multiplexed third sub-signal by using the first port; and performing optical performance monitoring on the fourth sub-signal by using the optical monitoring apparatus.

In some possible implementations, the performing optical performance monitoring on the second sub-signal by using the optical monitoring apparatus includes: monitoring optical power of each wavelength signal in the second sub-signal by using the optical monitoring apparatus; or monitoring a frequency offset of each wavelength signal in the second sub-signal by using the optical monitoring apparatus.

According to a fourth aspect, this application provides an optical performance monitoring method based on an optical switch, where the optical switch includes at least one first port, at least one second port, a first wavelength division multiplexing WDM apparatus, an optical splitter, an optical monitoring apparatus, and an optical switching apparatus. The method includes: transmitting an input first optical signal to the first WDM apparatus by using the first port, where the first optical signal is a multi-wavelength signal; demultiplexing the first optical signal by using the first WDM apparatus; performing optical switching on the first optical signal by using the optical switching apparatus; splitting, by using the optical splitter, a first optical signal obtained after optical switching to obtain a first sub-signal and a second sub-signal; outputting the first sub-signal by using the second port; and performing optical performance monitoring on the second sub-signal by using the optical monitoring apparatus.

In some possible implementations, the optical switch further includes a beam shaping apparatus; and the method further includes: shaping the input first optical signal by using the beam shaping apparatus; and demultiplexing a shaped first optical signal by using the first WDM apparatus.

In some possible implementations, the optical switch further includes a beam collimation apparatus. The method further includes: performing beam collimation on a demultiplexed first optical signal by using the beam collimation apparatus; and performing optical switching on a beam-collimated first optical signal by using the optical switching apparatus.

In some possible implementations, the optical switch further includes a second WDM apparatus. The method further includes: multiplexing the first sub-signal by using the second WDM apparatus; and outputting a multiplexed first sub-signal by using the second port.

In some possible implementations, the method further includes: transmitting an input second optical signal to the second WDM apparatus by using the second port, where the second optical signal is a multi-wavelength signal; demultiplexing the second optical signal by using the second WDM apparatus; splitting a demultiplexed second optical signal by using the optical splitter, to obtain a third sub-signal and a fourth sub-signal; performing optical switching on the third sub-signal by using the optical switching apparatus; outputting, by using the first port, a third sub-signal obtained after optical switching; and performing optical performance monitoring on the fourth sub-signal by using the optical monitoring apparatus.

In embodiments of this application, a WDM apparatus, an optical splitter, an optical monitoring apparatus, and an optical switching apparatus are disposed in an internal structure of an optical switch. The WDM apparatus demultiplexes an input optical signal. The optical splitter may split a demultiplexed optical signal into two bundles of signals, where one bundle of signals is input to the optical switching apparatus for optical switching, and the other bundle of signals is input to the optical monitoring apparatus for optical performance monitoring. In this design manner, the optical monitoring apparatus is integrated into the optical switch, and an existing apparatus in the optical switch may be reused to perform optical performance monitoring on the demultiplexed optical signal, so as to implement system miniaturization.

Embodiments of this application provide an optical switch and an optical performance monitoring method based on an optical switch. An optical monitoring apparatus is integrated into the optical switch, and an existing apparatus in the optical switch may be reused to perform optical performance monitoring on a demultiplexed optical signal, so as to implement system miniaturization. In the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings of this application, the terms "first", "second", "third", "fourth", and so on (if existent) are intended to distinguish between similar objects but do not necessarily indicate a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the data termed in such a way are interchangeable in proper circumstances so that embodiments described herein can be implemented in other orders than the order illustrated or described herein. In addition, the terms "include" and "have" and any other variants are intended to cover the non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or device that includes a list of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those expressly listed steps or units, but may include other steps or units not expressly listed or inherent to such a process, method, product, or device.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of a structure of a first optical switch according to an embodiment of this application. The optical switch includes at least one first port <NUM>, a first wavelength division multiplexing (Wavelength Division Multiplex, WDM) apparatus <NUM>, an optical splitter <NUM>, an optical switching apparatus <NUM>, an optical monitoring apparatus <NUM>, and at least one second port <NUM>.

The first port <NUM> transmits an input first optical signal to the first WDM apparatus <NUM>, where the first optical signal is a multi-wavelength signal. The first WDM apparatus <NUM> demultiplexes the first optical signal to implement spatial separation of wavelength signals. The optical splitter <NUM> splits a demultiplexed first optical signal into two signals: a first sub-signal and a second sub-signal, where the first sub-signal is input to the optical switching apparatus <NUM>, and the second sub-signal is input to the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM>. The optical switching apparatus <NUM> performs optical switching on the first sub-signal, and outputs the signal from the second port <NUM>. The optical monitoring apparatus <NUM> performs optical performance monitoring (Optical Performance Monitoring, OPM) on the second sub-signal.

Types of the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM> may include a photodiode array (Photo diode Array, PDA), a charge coupled device (Charge Coupled Device, CCD), a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor, CMOS), and the like. This is not specifically limited herein. In addition, a control circuit may further be disposed on a peripheral of the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM>, so as to control the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM> to complete optical-to-electrical conversion.

The following describes a specific manner in which the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM> implements OPM. For example, a mixer in the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM> may be first used to mix a local oscillator optical signal with a to-be-monitored optical signal (the second sub-signal), and then input a mixed optical signal to a PDA; and the control circuit controls the PDA to convert the optical signal into an electrical signal, and then inputs the electrical signal to an analog-to-digital converter for sampling, so as to obtain a monitoring signal used for OPM. It should be understood that OPM may include monitoring of a plurality of parameters, where the parameters include optical power, an optical signal-to-noise ratio (Optical Signal to Noise Ratio, OSNR), and the like. This is not specifically limited herein. Optical power monitoring can reflect a basic working status of a channel, and be used to indicate a system to perform automatic power equalization. OSNR monitoring can relatively accurately reflect signal quality. These parameters become important content of optical performance monitoring, and contribute to damage suppression, fault locating, degradation probing, backup, recovery, and the like of an optical network, thereby facilitating stable operation of the optical network.

In a possible implementation, the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM> may be further configured to correct a frequency offset. Specifically, the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM> simultaneously monitors multi-wavelength signals in space, frequency offsets of the multi-wavelength signals are uniform, that is, all wavelength signals have a uniform frequency offset. The optical monitoring apparatus <NUM> may use one wavelength with very high wavelength precision as a reference to correct all the wavelength signals. In addition, a spectrum shape scanned by the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM> may further be fed back to the optical switching apparatus <NUM>, so that the optical switching apparatus <NUM> implements real-time spectral filtering correction.

It should be understood that the optical splitter <NUM> performs splitting based on a proportion of optical power, that is, optical power of the first sub-signal is different from that of the second sub-signal, but a quantity of wavelength signals in the first sub-signal is the same as that in the second sub-signal. For example, the first WDM apparatus <NUM> performs splitting to obtain <NUM> wavelength signals, and the two sub-signals obtained by the optical splitter <NUM> through splitting also include the <NUM> wavelength signals. In addition, because a main function of the optical switch is to implement optical switching, most of signals obtained through splitting need to be input to the optical switching apparatus <NUM>, and a small part of the signals is input to the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM>. For example, a split ratio of the optical splitter <NUM> is <NUM>:<NUM>, that is, the optical splitter <NUM> inputs optical signals that occupy <NUM>% of total power to the optical switching apparatus <NUM>, and inputs optical signals that occupy <NUM>% of the total power to the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM>. Generally, optical power of the optical signals input to the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM> does not exceed <NUM>% of the total power. This application specifically sets no limitation on the split ratio of the optical splitter <NUM>.

In the optical switch shown in <FIG> described above, each demultiplexed wavelength signal is first split and then separately undergoes optical switching and optical monitoring. In addition, each demultiplexed wavelength signal may first undergo optical switching. After optical switching, the wavelength signal is split. One bundle of signals obtained after splitting is output from the second port <NUM>, and the other bundle of signals is input to the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM> for OPM. The following provides further description.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of a structure of a second optical switch according to an embodiment of this application. It may be learned from comparison between the structures shown in <FIG> that a sequence of positions of the optical splitter <NUM> and the optical switching apparatus <NUM> changes on an optical path. Specifically, the first port <NUM> transmits an input first optical signal to the first WDM apparatus <NUM>, where the first optical signal is a multi-wavelength signal. The first WDM apparatus <NUM> demultiplexes the first optical signal to implement spatial separation of wavelength signals. The optical switching apparatus <NUM> performs optical switching on each demultiplexed wavelength signal. The optical splitter <NUM> splits an optical signal obtained after optical switching to obtain two bundles of sub-signals, where one bundle of sub-signals is output from the second port <NUM>, and the other bundle of sub-signals is input to the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM> for OPM.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of spots distributed on an optical switching apparatus and an optical monitoring apparatus. It should be understood that, to minimize crosstalk, maximize a separation degree, and optimize distribution linearity between wavelength signals, spots of the wavelength signals distributed on the optical switching apparatus <NUM> are minimum. Then, a distance between the optical splitter <NUM> and the optical switching apparatus <NUM> and a distance between the optical splitter <NUM> and the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM> may be adjusted, so that spots distributed on the optical switching apparatus <NUM> are the same as spots distributed on the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM>. That is, spots of wavelength signals distributed on the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM> are minimum, so that overlapping between the spots is avoided, and monitoring is easy. In some possible implementations, a lens may alternatively be disposed between the optical splitter <NUM> and the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM>, so that the spots distributed on the optical switching apparatus <NUM> are the same as the spots distributed on the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM>. It may be understood that, in actual application, alternatively, the spots distributed on the optical switching apparatus <NUM> may be partly different from the spots distributed on the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM>. For example, sizes of the spots distributed on the optical switching apparatus <NUM> are in a specific proportion to sizes of the spots distributed on the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM>. This specifically depends an actual requirement and is not limited herein.

The optical switch provided in this application may specifically refer to a wavelength selective switch (Wavelength Selective Switch, WSS). The optical switching apparatus <NUM> in the optical switch may be specifically an apparatus for implementing optical cross-connect (Optical cross connect, OXC), such as a liquid crystal on silicon (Liquid Crystal on Silicon, LCOS) or a micro-electro-mechanical system (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System, MEMS), which is not specifically limited herein.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of a structure of a third optical switch according to an embodiment of this application. In actual application, each wavelength signal obtained after optical switching is completed also needs to be multiplexed before being output. Therefore, a second WDM apparatus <NUM> may be further disposed in the optical switch. Specifically, the second WDM apparatus <NUM> multiplexes each wavelength signal obtained after optical switching before outputting the wavelength signal. For example, <NUM> wavelength signals obtained after optical switching need to be output from eight ports. In this case, the second WDM apparatus <NUM> may multiplex the first wavelength signal to the tenth wavelength signal and output them from a port <NUM>, multiplex the eleventh wavelength signal to the twentieth wavelength signal and output them from a port <NUM>, and so on.

It should be understood that, the first WDM apparatus <NUM> may also have a multiplexing function in addition to the described demultiplexing function. Similarly, the second WDM apparatus <NUM> may also have a demultiplexing function in addition to the described multiplexing function. Specifically, the first WDM apparatus <NUM> and the second WDM apparatus <NUM> may be gratings or other apparatuses that spatially separate or combine wavelength signals, which are not limited herein. A WDM apparatus for demultiplexing may also be referred to as a "demultiplexer". A WDM apparatus for multiplexing may also be referred to as a "multiplexer".

The foregoing describes an optical path in which an optical signal is input from a port on one side of an optical switch and is output from a port on the other side. It should be understood that, in actual application, ports on two sides of the optical switch may be mutually input and output ports. That is, the optical path shown in <FIG> is reversible, and the following provides further description.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of another optical path of an optical switch according to an embodiment of this application. Specifically, the second port <NUM> transmits an input second optical signal to the second WDM apparatus <NUM>, where the second optical signal is a multi-wavelength signal. The second WDM apparatus <NUM> demultiplexes the first optical signal to implement spatial separation of wavelength signals. The optical switching apparatus <NUM> performs optical switching on each demultiplexed wavelength signal. The optical splitter <NUM> splits an optical signal obtained after optical switching to obtain two bundles of sub-signals, where one bundle of sub-signals is output from the first port <NUM> after being multiplexed by the first WDM apparatus <NUM>, and the other bundle of sub-signals is input to the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM> for OPM.

It may be learned with reference to the embodiments shown in <FIG> that, for an optical switch whose ports on two sides may be mutually input and output ports, the optical switching apparatus <NUM> therein needs to perform optical switching on optical signals in two different directions. To avoid mutual interference, a plane of the optical switching apparatus <NUM> may be divided into two regions (for example, a first region and a second region). Wavelength signals from the first port <NUM> form spots in the first region, and wavelength signals from the second port <NUM> form spots in the second region. Similarly, the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM> may also distinguish between wavelength signals from different ports in a similar manner.

It should be understood that the optical switch provided in this embodiment of this application may be a unidirectional optical switch, for example, a <NUM>-in N-out or N-in <NUM>-out optical switch formed by one first port <NUM> and N second ports <NUM>. In addition, the optical switch provided in this embodiment of this application may be a bidirectional optical switch, for example, an optical switch formed by M first ports <NUM> and N second ports <NUM> that can implement M-in N-out and N-in M-out. If the optical switch is a bidirectional optical switch, a WDM apparatus needs to be configured for each of ports on two sides, so as to multiplex an input optical signal before monitoring.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram of a structure of a fourth optical switch according to an embodiment of this application. The optical switch may further be provided with a beam shaping apparatus <NUM> and a beam collimation apparatus <NUM>. Specifically, the beam shaping apparatus <NUM> shapes an input optical signal to reduce a beam divergence angle and improve beam quality. The first WDM apparatus <NUM> demultiplexes a shaped optical signal. Each demultiplexed wavelength signal may be angularly separated in space. Therefore, the beam collimation apparatus <NUM> may perform beam collimation on each demultiplexed wavelength signal. The optical splitter <NUM> splits each beam-collimated wavelength signal. The beam shaping apparatus <NUM> and the beam collimation apparatus <NUM> may each be a diffractive optical element (Diffractive optical element, DOE), a lens combination, or the like, which is not specifically limited herein.

In embodiments of this application, a WDM apparatus, an optical splitter, an optical monitoring apparatus, and an optical switching apparatus are disposed in an internal structure of an optical switch. The WDM apparatus demultiplexes an input optical signal. The optical splitter may split a demultiplexed optical signal into two bundles of signals, where one bundle of signals is input to the optical switching apparatus for optical switching, and the other bundle of signals is input to the optical monitoring apparatus for optical performance monitoring. In this design manner, the optical monitoring apparatus is integrated into the optical switch, and an existing apparatus in the optical switch may be reused to perform optical performance monitoring on the demultiplexed optical signal, so as to implement system miniaturization. In addition, in this solution, demultiplexing is performed in space, and optical performance monitoring is performed on a plurality of wavelength signals at the same time without a need to perform monitoring on wavelength signals one by one in time, thereby improving monitoring efficiency.

The foregoing describes the optical switch in embodiments of this application. In addition, this application further provides an optical performance monitoring method based on an optical switch.

It should be noted that an optical switch used to implement the optical performance monitoring method may be the optical switch in any one of the embodiments shown in <FIG>, <FIG>. To simplify description, the following separately uses the optical switches shown in <FIG> as examples to describe the optical performance monitoring method provided in this application.

<FIG> is a first optical performance monitoring method based on an optical switch according to an embodiment of this application. With reference to the optical switch shown in <FIG>, in this embodiment, the optical performance monitoring method includes the following steps:.

Transmit an input first optical signal to the first WDM apparatus by using the first port.

Demultiplex the first optical signal by using the first WDM apparatus.

It should be understood that the first optical signal is a multi-wavelength signal, and the first WDM apparatus may spatially separate each multi-wavelength signal.

Split a demultiplexed first optical signal by using the optical splitter to obtain a first sub-signal and a second sub-signal.

Perform optical switching on the first sub-signal by using the optical switching apparatus.

Output, by using the second port, a first sub-signal obtained after optical switching.

Perform optical performance monitoring on the second sub-signal by using the optical monitoring apparatus.

A distance between the optical splitter and the optical switching apparatus or a distance between the optical splitter and the optical monitoring apparatus may be adjusted, so that spots distributed on the optical switching apparatus are the same as spots distributed on the optical monitoring apparatus. To minimize crosstalk, maximize a separation degree, and optimize distribution linearity between wavelength signals, spots of the wavelength signals distributed on the optical switching apparatus are minimum. Therefore, spots of the wavelength signals distributed on the optical monitoring apparatus are minimum, so that overlapping between the spots is avoided, and monitoring is easy. In some possible implementations, a lens may alternatively be disposed between the optical splitter and the optical monitoring apparatus, so that the spots distributed on the optical switching apparatus are the same as the spots distributed on the optical monitoring apparatus. It may be understood that, in actual application, alternatively, the spots distributed on the optical switching apparatus may be partly different from the spots distributed on the optical monitoring apparatus. For example, sizes of the spots distributed on the optical switching apparatus are in a specific proportion to sizes of the spots distributed on the optical monitoring apparatus. This specifically depends an actual requirement and is not limited herein.

In actual application, each wavelength signal obtained after optical switching is completed also needs to be multiplexed before being output. Therefore, a second WDM apparatus may be further disposed in the optical switch (as shown in <FIG>). Specifically, the second WDM apparatus may multiplex each wavelength signal obtained after optical switching before outputting the wavelength signal. For example, <NUM> wavelength signals obtained after optical switching need to be output from eight ports. In this case, the second WDM apparatus <NUM> may multiplex the first wavelength signal to the tenth wavelength signal and output them from a port <NUM>, multiplex the eleventh wavelength signal to the twentieth wavelength signal and output them from a port <NUM>, and so on.

It should be understood that, ports on two sides of the optical switch may be mutually input and output ports. The foregoing describes the embodiment in which the first port is for input and the second port is for output. The following describes an embodiment in which the second port is for input and the first port is for output. Specifically, referring to <FIG>, an input second optical signal is transmitted to the second WDM apparatus by using the second port, where the second optical signal is a multi-wavelength signal. The first optical signal is demultiplexed by using the second WDM apparatus, so as to implement spatial separation of wavelength signals. Optical switching is performed each demultiplexed wavelength signal by using the optical switching apparatus. An optical signal obtained after optical switching is split by using the optical splitter to obtain two bundles of sub-signals, where one bundle of sub-signals is output from the first port <NUM> after being multiplexed by the first WDM apparatus, and the other bundle of sub-signals is input to the optical monitoring apparatus <NUM> for optical performance monitoring.

<FIG> is a second optical performance monitoring method based on an optical switch according to an embodiment of this application. With reference to the optical switch shown in <FIG>, in this embodiment, the optical performance monitoring method includes the following steps:.

It should be noted that a main difference between the embodiment shown in <FIG> and the embodiment shown in <FIG> lies in that a sequence of positions of the optical splitter and the optical switching apparatus changes on an optical path. For details, refer to the optical switch shown in <FIG> and the optical switch shown in <FIG>. That is, in the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the optical splitter first splits the demultiplexed optical signal, and then the optical switching apparatus performs optical switching on one bundle of signals obtained after splitting. In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the optical switching apparatus first performs optical switching on the demultiplexed optical signal, and then the optical splitter splits the optical signal obtained after optical switching. Except the foregoing difference, other aspects are similar to those in the embodiment shown in <FIG>, and details are not described herein again.

It should be noted that in addition to the foregoing described optical performance monitoring by using the optical switches shown in <FIG>, for another optical performance monitoring method based on the optical switches in the embodiments shown in <FIG>, refer to related descriptions in the embodiment parts shown in <FIG>.

Claim 1:
An optical switch comprising: at least one first port (<NUM>), at least one second port (<NUM>), a first wavelength division multiplexing, WDM, apparatus (<NUM>), an optical splitter (<NUM>), an optical monitoring apparatus (<NUM>), and an optical switching apparatus (<NUM>), wherein:
• the first port (<NUM>) is configured to transmit an input first optical signal to the first WDM apparatus (<NUM>), wherein the first optical signal is a multi-wavelength signal;
• the first WDM apparatus (<NUM>) is configured to demultiplex the first optical signal, thereby arriving at a demultiplexed first optical signal composed of spatially separated optical signals, thereby spatially separating the multi-wavelength signal into its wavelength component signals;
• the optical splitter (<NUM>) is configured to split the demultiplexed first optical signal to obtain a first sub-signal and a second sub-signal, wherein the first sub-signal and the second sub-signal are each composed of spatially separated optical signals, wherein each optical signal among the spatially separated optical signals has a different single wavelength among the multiple wavelengths of the multi-wavelength signal;
• the optical switching apparatus (<NUM>) is configured to perform optical switching on the first sub-signal;
• the second port (<NUM>) is configured to output an optical signal obtained after the optical switching;
• the optical monitoring apparatus (<NUM>) is configured to perform optical performance monitoring on the second sub-signal, and
• in a first cross-sectional plane at the location of the optical switching apparatus (<NUM>), the cross-sections of the optical signals of the first sub-signal are the same as the cross-sections of the optical signals of the second sub-signal in a second cross-sectional plane at the location of the optical monitoring apparatus (<NUM>), and the distribution of the cross-sections of the optical signals of the first sub-signal in the first cross-sectional plane is the same as the distribution of the cross-sections of the optical signals of the second sub-signal in the second cross-sectional plane.