Patent ID: 7312858

Claim:
A method, comprising: passing a plurality of light beams though an array of waveguides wherein at least one waveguide is coupled to a first test structure which exhibits an insertion loss dependent on a known polarization; measuring for at least one of a first plurality of adjacent waveguides of said array including said one waveguide, a first wavelength response associated with a first polarization, and a second wavelength response associated with a second polarization; identifying said first polarization as said known polarization if the peak value of said first wavelength response of said first test structure is less than the peak value of said second wavelength response of said first test structure; identifying said second polarization as said known polarization if the peak value of said second wavelength response of said first test structure is less than the peak value of said first wavelength response of said first test structure; and indicating one of said first and second polarizations as said known polarization in accordance with the polarization of said first and second polarizations which is identified as said known polarization.