WO2011086400A1 - Optical switch for passive optical network (pon) supervision - Google Patents
Optical switch for passive optical network (pon) supervision Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- WO2011086400A1 WO2011086400A1 PCT/IB2010/000047 IB2010000047W WO2011086400A1 WO 2011086400 A1 WO2011086400 A1 WO 2011086400A1 IB 2010000047 W IB2010000047 W IB 2010000047W WO 2011086400 A1 WO2011086400 A1 WO 2011086400A1
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- WIPO (PCT)
- Prior art keywords
- movable head
- fiber
- support plate
- vertically mounted
- moving device
- Prior art date
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Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
- G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
- G02B6/26—Optical coupling means
- G02B6/35—Optical coupling means having switching means
- G02B6/3502—Optical coupling means having switching means involving direct waveguide displacement, e.g. cantilever type waveguide displacement involving waveguide bending, or displacing an interposed waveguide between stationary waveguides
- G02B6/3508—Lateral or transverse displacement of the whole waveguides, e.g. by varying the distance between opposed waveguide ends, or by mutual lateral displacement of opposed waveguide ends
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01M—TESTING STATIC OR DYNAMIC BALANCE OF MACHINES OR STRUCTURES; TESTING OF STRUCTURES OR APPARATUS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G01M11/00—Testing of optical apparatus; Testing structures by optical methods not otherwise provided for
- G01M11/30—Testing of optical devices, constituted by fibre optics or optical waveguides
- G01M11/31—Testing of optical devices, constituted by fibre optics or optical waveguides with a light emitter and a light receiver being disposed at the same side of a fibre or waveguide end-face, e.g. reflectometers
- G01M11/3109—Reflectometers detecting the back-scattered light in the time-domain, e.g. OTDR
- G01M11/3136—Reflectometers detecting the back-scattered light in the time-domain, e.g. OTDR for testing of multiple fibers
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01M—TESTING STATIC OR DYNAMIC BALANCE OF MACHINES OR STRUCTURES; TESTING OF STRUCTURES OR APPARATUS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G01M11/00—Testing of optical apparatus; Testing structures by optical methods not otherwise provided for
- G01M11/30—Testing of optical devices, constituted by fibre optics or optical waveguides
- G01M11/31—Testing of optical devices, constituted by fibre optics or optical waveguides with a light emitter and a light receiver being disposed at the same side of a fibre or waveguide end-face, e.g. reflectometers
- G01M11/3109—Reflectometers detecting the back-scattered light in the time-domain, e.g. OTDR
- G01M11/3154—Details of the opto-mechanical connection, e.g. connector or repeater
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
- G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
- G02B6/26—Optical coupling means
- G02B6/35—Optical coupling means having switching means
- G02B6/3502—Optical coupling means having switching means involving direct waveguide displacement, e.g. cantilever type waveguide displacement involving waveguide bending, or displacing an interposed waveguide between stationary waveguides
- G02B6/3506—Translating the waveguides along the beam path, e.g. by varying the distance between opposed waveguide ends, or by translation of the waveguide ends
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
- G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
- G02B6/26—Optical coupling means
- G02B6/35—Optical coupling means having switching means
- G02B6/354—Switching arrangements, i.e. number of input/output ports and interconnection types
- G02B6/3554—3D constellations, i.e. with switching elements and switched beams located in a volume
- G02B6/3558—1xN switch, i.e. one input and a selectable single output of N possible outputs
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
- G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
- G02B6/26—Optical coupling means
- G02B6/35—Optical coupling means having switching means
- G02B6/3564—Mechanical details of the actuation mechanism associated with the moving element or mounting mechanism details
- G02B6/3568—Mechanical details of the actuation mechanism associated with the moving element or mounting mechanism details characterised by the actuating force
- G02B6/3574—Mechanical force, e.g. pressure variations
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G02—OPTICS
- G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
- G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
- G02B6/36—Mechanical coupling means
- G02B6/38—Mechanical coupling means having fibre to fibre mating means
- G02B6/3807—Dismountable connectors, i.e. comprising plugs
- G02B6/3897—Connectors fixed to housings, casing, frames or circuit boards
Definitions
- the present invention relates to an optical switch which in one exemplary application can be used with an optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) device to provide fault management (e.g., fault indication, fault identification, fault localization) within a passive optical network (PON)(e.g., time division multiplexed passive optical network (TDM-PON)).
- OTDDR optical time domain reflectometry
- an optical switch for connecting and disconnecting an incoming optical fiber to and from anyone of a plurality of outgoing optical fibers.
- the optical switch includes: (1) a first movable head with an adaptor for receiving the incoming optical fiber and a downward extending ferrule; (2) a first horizontally mounted support plate which has a plurality of vertically mounted adaptors, each vertically mounted adaptor having a bottom side for receiving an intermediate optical fiber and a top side for receiving the downward extending ferrule of the first movable head; (3) a first moving device for moving the first movable head in an x-y plane to position the downward extending ferrule of the first movable head directly over anyone of the plurality of vertically mounted adaptors within the first horizontally mounted support plate; (4) the first moving device for moving the first movable head downward in a vertical direction to position the downward extending ferrule of the first movable head into the top side of one of the plurality of vertically mounted adaptors in the first horizontally mounted support
- the moving device 406 is capable of moving the movable head 402 upward in the vertical direction to remove the downward extending ferrule 416 from the top side of the vertically mounted adaptor 420 such that the incoming optical fiber 322 is disconnected from the outgoing optical fiber 334 attached to the same vertically mounted adaptor 420.
- the power supply 412 is used to provide power to the controller 408 (if present) and the moving device 406. In this configuration, the power supply 412 provides power to the moving device 406 when the movable head 402 is being moved in the x-y plane or is being moved to connect or disconnect the incoming optical fiber 322 to or from one of the outgoing optical fibers 334. However, the power supply 412 does not need to supply power to the moving device 406 when the movable head 402 is in a position where the incoming optical fiber 322 is connected to one of the outgoing optical fibers 334.
- FIGURE 4C is a perspective drawing illustrating an exemplary rack-mountable box 430 ("pizza box" 430) which can house the optical switch 304a.
- the rack-mountable box 430 has the outgoing optical fibers 334 connected to the bottom (to minimize the box size and cost of adapters/patch-cords) and guided by a fiber guide 432 to the front.
- the rack-mountable box 430 may slide in/out of a rack (not shown). If a 19" wide and 300 mm deep rack-mountable box 430 is used then at least 50 lines and 20 columns of LC connectors 420 should fit therein which can receive at least 1000 outgoing optical fibers 334.
- the optical switch 304a enables sharing an OTDR signal and feeding the OTDR signal into the power splitter structure 310 and 312 at the remote node 308 of high-split PONs. Plus, the optical switch 304a could lead to substantial cost savings (opex) of current PONs and be part of a new product for fiber plant management (FPM).
- FPM fiber plant management
- the optical switch 304b includes a first movable head 502, a first horizontally mounted support plate 504, a first moving device 506, a second movable head 508, a second horizontally mounted support plate 510, a second moving device 512, a controller 514, a communication interface 516, and a power supply 518.
- Each vertically mounted adaptor 526 has a top side configured to receive the downward extending ferrule 522 of the movable head 502 and a bottom side configured to receive a connector 530 (e.g., LC connector 530) attached to one of multiple intermediary optical fibers 532.
- a connector 530 e.g., LC connector 530
- the first horizontally mounted support plate 504 has multiple intermediary optical fibers 532 that are attached to the bottom side thereof.
- FIGURE 5B is a perspective drawing illustrating in greater detail exemplary connectors 522, 524 and530 and exemplary adaptors 520 and 526 associated with the first movable head 502 and the first horizontally mounted support plate 504.
- Each vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptor 540 has a top side configured to receive the downward extending ferrule 536 of the second movable head 508 and a bottom side configured to receive the ribbon of multiple outgoing optical fibers 334.
- the second horizontally mounted support plate 510 has an array of ribbons containing the multiple outgoing optical fibers 334 attached to the bottom side thereof.
- FIGURE 5C is a perspective drawing illustrating in greater detail exemplary connectors 536 and 538 and exemplary adaptors 534 and 540 associated with the second movable head 508 and the second horizontally mounted support plate 510.
- the second moving device 512 has electrical motors that move the second movable head 508 in the x-y plane to align the intermediary optical fiber 532 (associated with the incoming optical fiber 322) directly above anyone of the vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptors 540 which are connected to the outgoing optical fibers 334.
- the electrical motors can move the second movable head 508 down (to connect the incoming optical fiber 322 to one of the outgoing optical fibers 334) and up (to disconnect the incoming optical fiber 322 from the corresponding outgoing optical fiber 334).
- the second moving device 512 can be implemented by a simple x-y plotter which includes the functions of moving in x-y directions and the up/down directions. A multitude of inexpensive x-y plotters exist on the market such as those manufactured by Philips, HP, Xerox, etc.
- the controller 514 can be used to control the movement of the first moving device 506 in the x-y directions and the up/down directions. As such, the controller 514 can be used to control the connecting and disconnecting of the incoming optical fiber 322 to and from anyone of the intermediary optical fibers 532. Plus, the controller 514 can be used to control the movement of the second moving device 512 in the x-y directions and the up/down directions. As such, the controller 514 can be used to control the connecting and disconnecting of the incoming optical fiber 322 via one intermediary optical fiber 532 to and from anyone of the outgoing optical fibers 334. If desired, the controller 514 can be remotely controlled via the communication interface 516 from the OTDR device 302 or some other control device (not shown).
- the optical switch 304b does not need to include the controller 514 therein but instead the OTDR device 302 or some other control device (not shown) can via the communication interface 516 directly control the first and second moving devices 506 and 512.
- the controller 514 can include a simple microprocessor and possibly memory and the remote communication can for example be done over a power feeding fiber via low data rate modulation or by other means.
- the power supply 518 is used to provide power to the controller 514 (if present) and the first and second moving devices 506 and 512. In this configuration, the power supply 518 provides power to the first moving device 506 when the first movable head 502 is being moved in the x-y plane or is being moved to connect or disconnect the incoming optical fiber 322 to or from one of the intermediary optical fibers 532. However, the power supply 518 does not need to supply power to the first moving device 506 when the first movable head 502 is in a position where the incoming optical fiber 322 is connected to one of the intermediary optical fibers 532.
- the power supply 518 provides power to the second moving device 512 when the second movable head 508 is being moved in the x-y plane or is being moved to connect or disconnect the intermediary optical fiber 532 to or from one of the outgoing optical fibers 334.
- the power supply 518 does not need to supply power to the second moving device 512 when the second movable head 508 is in a position where one of the intermediary optical fibers 532 is connected to one of the outgoing optical fibers 334.
- power is not present at the remote node 308 for the optical switch 304b then power can be feed over any fiber to the optical switch 304b.
- the power supply 518 can be a battery back that is remotely and continuously charged via a fiber from a remote device such as the OTDR device 302.
- FIGURE 5D is a perspective drawing illustrating an exemplary rack-mountable box 550 ("pizza box" 550) which can house the optical switch 304b.
- the rack-mountable box 550 has the outgoing optical fibers 334 connected to the bottom (to minimize the box size and cost of adapters/patch-cords) and guided by a fiber guide 552 to the front.
- the rack-mountable box 550 may slide in/out of a rack (not shown). If a 19" wide and 300 mm deep rack-mountable box 550 (i.e.
- the incoming optical fiber 322 is connected on the front of the rack-mountable box 550 but the incoming optical fiber 322 could be connected to the top of the rack-mountable box 550 to reduce the need for an internal patch-cord to route the incoming optical fiber 322 within the rack-mountable box 550.
- optical switch 304b costs less and occupies less space or houses more outgoing optical fibers 334 in a given size of a rack-mountable box 550 when compared to the optical switch 304a.
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- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Optics & Photonics (AREA)
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Analytical Chemistry (AREA)
- Mechanical Light Control Or Optical Switches (AREA)
Abstract
An optical switch (304, 304a, 304b) is described herein which in one exemplary application can be used with an optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) device (302) to provide fault management (e.g., fault indication, fault identification, fault localization) within a passive optical network (e.g., time division multiplexed passive optical network (300) (TDM-PON)).
Description
OPTICAL SWITCH FOR PASSIVE OPTICAL
NETWORK (PON) SUPERVISION
TECHNICAL FIELD
5 The present invention relates to an optical switch which in one exemplary application can be used with an optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) device to provide fault management (e.g., fault indication, fault identification, fault localization) within a passive optical network (PON)(e.g., time division multiplexed passive optical network (TDM-PON)).
10
BACKGROUND
The following abbreviations are herewith defined, at least some of which are referred to within the following description of the prior art and the present invention.
15 DSL Digital Subscriber Line
EPON Ethernet Passive Optical Network
GPON Gigabit-Capable Passive Optical Network (ITU-T G.984 series)
FPM Fiber Plant Management
LC Lucent Connector
20 MT Multi-Terminal
NG-PON Next Generation-Passive Optical Network
OLT Optical Line Terminals
ONT Optical Network Termination
OPEX Operational Expenditures
25 OTDR Optical Time Domain Reflectometry
P2MP Point-To-Multi-Point
PON Passive Optical Network
TDM Time Division Multiplexing
WDM-PON Wavelength-Multiplexed Passive Optical Network
JU
PONs (e.g., GPON, EPON, NG-PON, WDM-PON etc.) have reached world-wide acceptance for high capacity broadband. FIGURE 1 (PRIOR ART) is a
basic block diagram illustrating an exemplary TDM-PON 100 which includes central office equipment (optical line terminals, OLTs 102), a remote node 104 (p2mp first stage power splitters 106 and p2mp second stage power splitters 108), and end-users (optical network terminations, ONTs 110). One of the benefits of using a TDM-PON 100 with fiber access, e.g. PON, when compared to networks such as DSL which use metallic media is the much anticipated lower cost for field maintenance and fault management, i.e. lower operational expenditures (OPEX). However, it is becoming increasingly evident that some PON operators are facing much higher OPEX numbers for implementing fault management than hoped for due to the problem of:
· fault indication: is there a fault in the fiber plant or in the end equipment?
• fault identification: what kind of fault is it?
• fault localization: what part of the fiber plant and where?
A common tool currently being used in fiber networks for fault management is the optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) device. The OTDR device sends a short pulse down the fiber and then detects a back reflection from that fiber. This back reflection indicates the fiber attenuation (which can be an expected value or an elevated value due to for example ageing or water intrusion) and if present any point reflections (due to for example faulty connectors, splices, fiber bends etc.). The fiber attenuation and point reflections are subsequently recorded and spatially located.
In one case, there has been a proposal to embed an OTDR like functionality within the ONTs 110 but this proposal has the drawbacks of being quite costly and excluding the use of off-the-shelf commercial ONT optics. Also, if the OTDR functionality is embedded within the ONT 110 then this would require that there be a working communication channel from the ONT 110 to the OLT 102. As a result, this solution will not be able to localize severe faults on the fiber located between the remote node 104 (power splitters 108) and the ONT 110 due to a non- working communication channel from the ONT 110 to the OLT 102.
Thus, it is desirable to position the OTDR device and perform the OTDR measurement from the OLT side since (for example): (1) only one OTRD device is needed per PON; and (2) there is no need to bring the OTDR device into the field. However, when the OTDR measurement is from the OLT side this can make it difficult
to perform fault localization on the ONT side's fibers due to the high loss of the PON's power splitters 106 and 108. For instance, with this set-up in which the OTDR device is placed on the OLT side it has been shown that fault localization is possible for splits of 1 :8 and fault detection for splits of 1 :32 but fault localization and fault detection is not possible for the normal use of splits of 1 :32 or higher.
To help address this problem, Ericsson Inc. has proposed a TDM-PON 200 shown in FIGURE 2 (PRIOR ART) which has 1-K OLTs 202, a remote node 204 (first stage 1 :N power splitters 206 and second stage 2:M power splitters 208), and KxNxM ONTs 210. Plus, the TDM-PON 200 has an OTDR device 212 located on the OLT side and a 1 :NxK optical switch 214 located at the remote node 204. The optical switch 214 is used to receive an OTDR signal from the OTDR device 212 and then insert the OTDR signal into the second stage 2:M power splitters 208. A detailed discussion about this particular TDM-PON 200 has been provided within the co-assigned U.S. Patent Application No. 61/174,243 which was filed on April 30, 2009 and entitled "Method for Fault Indication and Localization in High-Split PONs". The contents of this document are hereby incorporated herein by reference,
The TDM-PON 200 in this configuration works just fine but it would be desirable for business purposes if the optical switch 214 complied with one or more of the following requirements:
■ » 100 ports
■ Low cost per port (e.g., 10 USD per port)
■ Power needed only at switching, otherwise latching
■ Very low power consumption making remote fiber powering or solar power possible
■ Very low insertion loss (<1 dB)
■ No impairments to the OTDR signal
■ No requirement on switching speed (seconds ok)
■ Small size is needed to fit into cabinets or similar
■ Remote controlled (via fiber)
■ Less hard requirement on reliability versus data carrying switches
However, this type of optical switch especially one that meets the low cost requirement is currently not available on the market. Accordingly, there has been a need for an optical switch which can satisfy one or more of the aforementioned requirements and can be used with an OTDR device (located on the OLT side) to provide fault management within the PON (e.g., TDM-PON). This need and other needs have been satisfied by the present invention.
SUMMARY
The present invention has an object to provide a low-cost optical switch which for instance can be used with an OTDR device to provide fault management (e.g., fault indication, fault identification, fault localization) within a PON. This object is achieved by optical switch as in claim 1. Furthermore, the present invention is embodied in a PON as described in claim 12 and in a method as described in claim 15. Advantageous embodiments are described in the further claims.
In one aspect of the present invention there is provided an optical switch for connecting and disconnecting an incoming optical fiber to and from anyone of a plurality of outgoing optical fibers. The optical switch includes: (1) a movable head with an adaptor for receiving the incoming optical fiber and a downward extending ferrule; (2) a horizontally mounted support plate with a plurality of vertically mounted adaptors, each vertically mounted adaptor having a bottom side for receiving one of the outgoing optical fibers and a top side for receiving the downward extending ferrule of the movable head; (3) a moving device for moving the movable head in an x-y plane to position the downward extending ferrule directly over anyone of the plurality of vertically mounted adaptors within the horizontally mounted support plate; (4) the moving device for moving the movable head downward in a vertical direction to position the downward extending ferrule into the top side of one of the vertically mounted adaptors such that the incoming optical fiber is connected to the outgoing optical fiber attached to the same vertically mounted adaptor; and (5) the moving device for moving the movable head upward in a vertical direction to remove the downward extending ferrule from the top side of the one vertically mounted adaptor such that the incoming optical is disconnected from the outgoing optical fiber attached to the same vertically mounted adaptor. In one advantageous application, the optical switch can be used with an OTDR device to
provide fault management (e.g., fault indication, fault identification, fault localization) within a PON (e.g., TDM-PON).
In another aspect of the present invention there is provided an optical switch for connecting and disconnecting an incoming optical fiber to and from anyone of a plurality of outgoing optical fibers. The optical switch includes: (1) a first movable head with an adaptor for receiving the incoming optical fiber and a downward extending ferrule; (2) a first horizontally mounted support plate which has a plurality of vertically mounted adaptors, each vertically mounted adaptor having a bottom side for receiving an intermediate optical fiber and a top side for receiving the downward extending ferrule of the first movable head; (3) a first moving device for moving the first movable head in an x-y plane to position the downward extending ferrule of the first movable head directly over anyone of the plurality of vertically mounted adaptors within the first horizontally mounted support plate; (4) the first moving device for moving the first movable head downward in a vertical direction to position the downward extending ferrule of the first movable head into the top side of one of the plurality of vertically mounted adaptors in the first horizontally mounted support plate such that the incoming optical fiber is connected to the intermediary optical fiber attached to the same vertically mounted adaptor; (5) the first moving device for moving the first movable head upward in a vertical direction to remove the downward extending ferrule of the first movable head from the top side of the one vertically mounted adaptor in the first horizontally mounted support plate such that the incoming optical is disconnected from the intermediary optical fiber attached to the same vertically mounted adaptor; (6) a second movable head with a multi-fiber adaptor for receiving the intermediary optical fibers from the first horizontally mounted support plate and a downward extending multi-fiber ferrule; (7) a second horizontally mounted support plate with a plurality of vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptors, each vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptor having a bottom side for receiving one or more of the outgoing optical fibers and a top side for receiving the downward extending multi-fiber ferrule of the second movable head; (8) a second moving device for moving the second movable head in an x-y plane to position the downward extending multi-fiber ferrule of the second movable head directly over anyone of the plurality of vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptors within the second horizontally mounted support plate; (9) the second moving device for moving the second
movable head downward in a vertical direction to position the downward extending multi-fiber ferrule of the second movable head into the top side of one of the plurality of vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptors in the second horizontally mounted support plate such that the incoming optical fiber is connected via one of the intermediary optical fibers to the outgoing optical fiber attached to the same vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptor; and (10) the second moving device for moving the second movable head upward in a vertical direction to remove the downward extending multi-fiber ferrule of the second movable head from the top side of the one vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptor in the second horizontally mounted support plate such that the incoming optical is disconnected from the outgoing optical fiber attached to the same vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptor. In one advantageous application, the optical switch can be used with an OTDR device to provide fault management (e.g., fault indication, fault identification, fault localization) within a PON (e.g., TDM-PON).
Additional aspects of the invention will be set forth, in part, in the detailed description, figures and any claims which follow, and in part will be derived from the detailed description, or can be learned by practice of the invention. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention as disclosed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A more complete understanding of the present invention may be obtained by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:
FIGURE 1 (PRIOR ART) is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary traditional TDM-PON;
FIGURE 2 (PRIOR ART) is a block diagram illustrating the exemplary traditional TDM-PON incorporating an OTDR device located on the ONT side and an optical switch located at the remote node;
FIGURE 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary TDM-PON which incorporates an OTDR device located on a ONT side and an enhanced optical switch located at a remote node in accordance with the present invention;
FIGURES 4A-4C are various diagrams of the enhanced optical switch shown in FIGURE 3 that is configured in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; and
FIGURES 5A-5D are various diagrams of the enhanced optical switch shown in FIGURE 3 that is configured in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to FIGURE 3, there is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary TDM-PON 300 which incorporates an OTDR device 302 and an enhanced optical switch 304 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The exemplar y TDM-PON 300 includes 1-K OLTs 306, a remote node 308 (first stage 1 :N power splitters 310 and second stage 2:M power splitters 312), and KxNxM ONTs 314. Plus, the exemplary TDM-PON 300 has the OTDR device 302 located on the OLT side and the enhanced 1 :Nx optical switch 304 located at the remote node 308. The enhanced optical switch 304 is positioned to receive an OTDR signal from the OTDR device 302 and then insert the OTDR signal into the second stage 2:M power splitters 312. In this configuration, the 1-K OLTs 306 have optical fibers 316 connected to inputs 318 of the first stage 1:N power splitters 310. The OTDR device 302 (including a power supply 320) is connected via an incoming optical fiber 322 to an input 324 of the enhanced optical switch 304. The first stage 1:N power splitters 310 have outputs 326 connected via optical fibers 328 to inputs 330 of the second stage 2:M power splitters 312. The enhanced optical switch 304 has outputs 332 connected via outgoing optical fibers 334 to the inputs 330 of the second stage 2:M power splitters 312. The second stage 2:M power splitters 312 have outputs 325 with optical fibers 327 connected to inputs 329 in the ONTs 314. If desired, the first stage 1 :N power splitters 310 can be located at a different location than the second stage 2:M power splitters 312. A detailed discussion is provided next about two exemplary enhanced optical switches 304a and 304b which can be used with the OTDR device 302 to provide fault management (e.g., fault indication, fault identification, fault localization) within the TDM-PON 300.
Referring to FIGURES 4A-4C, there are illustrated various diagrams of the enhanced optical switch 304a configured to connect and disconnect the incoming optical
fiber 322 to and from anyone of the outgoing optical fibers 334 in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIGURE 4A, the optical switch 304a includes a movable head 402, a horizontally mounted support plate 404, a moving device 406, a controller 408, a communication interface 410, and a power supply 412. In this configuration, the movable head 402, the moving device 406 and the incoming optical fiber 322 are all located above the horizontally mounted support plate 404 which is located above the outgoing optical fibers 334. The functions of the movable head 402, the horizontally mounted support plate 404, the moving device 406, the controller 408, the communication interface 410, and the power supply 412 are all described in more detail next.
The movable head 402 has an adaptor 414 (e.g., LC adaptor 414) located on a top side and a downward extending ferrule 416 (e.g., tab-less LC connector 416) located on a bottom side. The adaptor 414 is configured to receive a connector 418 (e.g., LC connector 418) attached to the incoming optical fiber 322. Alternatively, the incoming optical fiber 322 can be in the form of a connector with a ferrule in which case there is no need for the adaptor 414. The horizontally mounted support plate 404 has secured thereto an array of vertically mounted adaptors 420 (e.g., multiple duplex LC-LC adaptors 420). Each vertically mounted adaptor 420 has a top side configured to receive the downward extending ferrule 416 of the movable head 402 and a bottom side configured to receive a connector 422 (e.g., LC connector 422) attached to one of the outgoing optical fibers 334. As can be seen, the horizontally mounted support plate 404 has all of the outgoing optical fibers 334 attached to a bottom side thereof. FIGURE 4B is a perspective drawing illustrating in greater detail exemplary connectors 416, 418 and 422 and exemplary adaptors 414 and420 associated with the movable head 402 and the horizontally mounted support plate 404.
The moving device 406 is connected to and capable of moving the movable head 402 in an x-y plane to position the downward extending ferrule 416 directly over anyone of the vertically mounted adaptors 420 located within the horizontally mounted support plate 404. In addition, the moving device 406 is capable of moving the movable head 402 downward in a vertical direction to position the downward extending ferrule 416 into the top side of one of the vertically mounted adaptors 420 such that the incoming optical fiber 322 connects to the outgoing optical fiber 334 attached to the same vertically
mounted adaptor 420. Furthermore, the moving device 406 is capable of moving the movable head 402 upward in the vertical direction to remove the downward extending ferrule 416 from the top side of the vertically mounted adaptor 420 such that the incoming optical fiber 322 is disconnected from the outgoing optical fiber 334 attached to the same vertically mounted adaptor 420.
In one application, the moving device 406 includes electrical motors that move the movable head 402 in the x-y plane to align the incoming optical fiber 322 directly above anyone of the vertically mounted adaptors 420 which are connected to the outgoing optical fibers 334. In addition, the electrical motors can move the movable head 402 down (to connect the incoming optical fiber 322 to one of the outgoing optical fibers 334) and up (to disconnect the incoming optical fiber 322 from the corresponding outgoing optical fiber 334). For example, the moving device 406 can be implemented by a simple x-y plotter which includes the functions of moving in the x-y directions and the up/down directions. A multitude of inexpensive x-y plotters exist on the market such as those manufactured by Philips, HP, Xerox, etc.
The controller 408 can be used to control the movement of the moving device 406 in the x-y directions and the up/down directions. As such, the controller 408 can be used to control the connecting and disconnecting of the incoming optical fiber 322 to and from anyone of the outgoing optical fibers 334. If desired, the controller 408 can be remotely controlled via the communication interface 410 from the OTDR device 302 or some other control device (not shown). Alternatively, the optical switch 304a does not need to include the controller 408 therein but instead the OTDR device 302 or some other control device (not shown) can via the communication interface 410 directly control the moving device 406. In any case, the controller 408 can include a simple microprocessor and possibly memory and the remote communication can, for example, be done over a power feeding fiber via low data rate modulation or by other means.
The power supply 412 is used to provide power to the controller 408 (if present) and the moving device 406. In this configuration, the power supply 412 provides power to the moving device 406 when the movable head 402 is being moved in the x-y plane or is being moved to connect or disconnect the incoming optical fiber 322 to or from one of the outgoing optical fibers 334. However, the power supply 412 does not need to supply power to the moving device 406 when the movable head 402 is in a position where the
incoming optical fiber 322 is connected to one of the outgoing optical fibers 334. Thus, the optical switch 304a needs power during a re-connection phase and not during a connection phase where gravity makes sure that the incoming optical fiber 322 is well-connected to the outgoing optical fiber 334. In the event, power is not present at the remote node 308 for the optical switch 304a then power can be feed over any fiber to the optical switch 304a. Alternatively, to reduce the need for large power feeding the optical switch 304a, the power supply 412 can be a battery back which is remotely and continuously charged via a fiber from a remote device such as the OTDR device 302.
FIGURE 4C is a perspective drawing illustrating an exemplary rack-mountable box 430 ("pizza box" 430) which can house the optical switch 304a. In this example, the rack-mountable box 430 has the outgoing optical fibers 334 connected to the bottom (to minimize the box size and cost of adapters/patch-cords) and guided by a fiber guide 432 to the front. To simplify connecting the outgoing optical fibers 334, the rack-mountable box 430 may slide in/out of a rack (not shown). If a 19" wide and 300 mm deep rack-mountable box 430 is used then at least 50 lines and 20 columns of LC connectors 420 should fit therein which can receive at least 1000 outgoing optical fibers 334. However, the total number of outgoing optical fibers 334 depends on the operator situation (e.g., number of PON lines in the remote node 308) and the cost-precision trade-off for the moving device 406 (x-y plotter 406). The cost-precision trade-off is probably very low since the spatial tolerance is high for a normal x-y plotter function of the moving device 406 (x-y plotter 406). In this example, the incoming optical fiber 322 is connected on the front of the rack-mountable box 430 but the incoming optical fiber 322 could be connected to the top of the rack-mountable box 430 to reduce the need for an internal patch-cord to route the incoming optical fiber 322 within the rack-mountable box 430.
From the foregoing, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the optical switch 304a proposes to have the incoming optical fiber 322 inserted vertically and the outgoing optical fibers 334 inserted horizontally in a matrix where both incoming and outgoing optical fibers 322 and 334 would be connectorized using conventional connectors (e.g., LC or MU for small formfactor, SFF) and mated using conventional adaptors. The optical switch 304a can make use of conventional low-cost fiber optic components and mechanical components such as traditional fiber optic connectors and macro-mechanical
moving parts. This would enable a low cost optical switch 304a (e.g., -10 USD per port) that has a short development process and rather simple production process. The optical switch 304a enables sharing an OTDR signal and feeding the OTDR signal into the power splitter structure 310 and 312 at the remote node 308 of high-split PONs. Plus, the optical switch 304a could lead to substantial cost savings (opex) of current PONs and be part of a new product for fiber plant management (FPM).
Referring to FIGURES 5A-5D, there are illustrated various diagrams of the enhanced optical switch 304b configured to connect and disconnect the incoming optical fiber 322 to and from anyone of the outgoing optical fibers 334 in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIGURE 5 A, the optical switch 304b includes a first movable head 502, a first horizontally mounted support plate 504, a first moving device 506, a second movable head 508, a second horizontally mounted support plate 510, a second moving device 512, a controller 514, a communication interface 516, and a power supply 518. In this configuration, the first movable head 502, the first moving device 506 and the incoming optical fiber 322 are all positioned above the first horizontally mounted support plate 504. The second movable head 508 and the second moving device 512 are positioned below the first horizontally mounted support plate 504 but above the second horizontally mounted support plate 510. The outgoing optical fibers 334 are positioned below the second horizontally mounted support plate 510. The functions of the first movable head 502, the first horizontally mounted support plate 504, the first moving device 506, the second movable head 508, the second horizontally mounted support plate 510, the second moving device 512, the controller 514, the communication interface 516, and the power supply 518 are all discussed in more detail next.
The first movable head 502 has an adaptor 520 (e.g., LC adaptor 520) located on a top side and a downward extending ferrule 522 (e.g., tab-less LC connector 522) located on a bottom side. The adaptor 520 is configured to receive a connector 524 (e.g., LC connector 524) attached to the incoming optical fiber 322. Alternatively, the incoming optical fiber 322 can be in the form of a connector with a ferrule in which case there is no need for the adaptor 520. The first horizontally mounted support plate 504 has secured thereto an array of vertically mounted adaptors 526 (e.g., multiple duplex LC-LC adaptors 526). Each vertically mounted adaptor 526 has a top side configured to receive
the downward extending ferrule 522 of the movable head 502 and a bottom side configured to receive a connector 530 (e.g., LC connector 530) attached to one of multiple intermediary optical fibers 532. As can be seen, the first horizontally mounted support plate 504 has multiple intermediary optical fibers 532 that are attached to the bottom side thereof. FIGURE 5B is a perspective drawing illustrating in greater detail exemplary connectors 522, 524 and530 and exemplary adaptors 520 and 526 associated with the first movable head 502 and the first horizontally mounted support plate 504.
The first moving device 506 is connected to and capable of moving the first movable head 502 in an x-y plane to position the downward extending ferrule 522 directly over anyone of the vertically mounted adaptors 526 located within the first horizontally mounted support plate 504. In addition, the first moving device 506 is capable of moving the first movable head 502 downward in a vertical direction to position the downward extending ferrule 522 into the top side of one of the vertically mounted adaptors 526 such that the incoming optical fiber 322 conne cts to the intermediary optical fiber 532 attached to the same vertically mounted adaptor 526. Furthermore, the first moving device 506 is capable of moving the first movable head 502 upward in the vertical direction to remove the downward extending ferrule 522 from the top side of the vertically mounted adaptor 526 such that the incoming optical fiber 322 is disconnected from the intermediary optical fiber 532 attached to the same vertically mounted adaptor 526.
In one application, the first moving device 506 has electrical motors that move the first movable head 502 in the x-y plane to align the incoming optical fiber 322 directly above anyone of the vertically mounted adaptors 526 which are connected to the intermediary optical fibers 532. In addition, the electrical motors can move the first movable head 502 down (to connect the incoming optical fiber 322 to one of the intermediary optical fibers 532) and up (to disconnect the incoming optical fiber 322 from the corresponding intermediary optical fiber 523). For example, the moving device 406 can be implemented by a simple x-y plotter which includes the functions of moving in the x-y directions and the up/down directions. A multitude of inexpensive x-y plotters exist on the market such as those manufactured by Philips, HP, Xerox, etc.
The second movable head 508 has a multi-fiber adaptor 534 (e.g., MT adaptor 534 which can have 64 or more fibers) located on a top side and a downward extending
multi-fiber ferrule 536 (e.g., MT connector 536) located on a bottom side. The multi-fiber adaptor 534 is configured to receive a multi-fiber connector 538 (e.g., MT connector 538) attached to the intermediary optical fibers 532. The second horizontally mounted support plate 510 has secured thereto an array of vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptors 540 (e.g., multiple multi-fiber adaptors 540). Each vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptor 540 has a top side configured to receive the downward extending ferrule 536 of the second movable head 508 and a bottom side configured to receive the ribbon of multiple outgoing optical fibers 334. As can be seen, the second horizontally mounted support plate 510 has an array of ribbons containing the multiple outgoing optical fibers 334 attached to the bottom side thereof. FIGURE 5C is a perspective drawing illustrating in greater detail exemplary connectors 536 and 538 and exemplary adaptors 534 and 540 associated with the second movable head 508 and the second horizontally mounted support plate 510.
The second moving device 512 is connected to and capable of moving the second movable head 508 in an x-y plane to position the downward extending multi-fiber ferrule 536 directly over anyone of the vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptors 540 located within the second horizontally mounted support plate 510. In addition, the second moving device 512 is capable of moving the second movable head 508 downward in a vertical direction to position the downward extending multi-fiber ferrule 536 into the top side of one of the vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptors 540 such that the incoming optical fiber 322 connects via one intermediary optical fiber 532 to the outgoing optical fiber 334 attached to the same vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptor 540. Furthermore, the second moving device 512 is capable of moving the second movable head 508 upward in the vertical direction to remove the downward extending multi-fiber ferrule 536 from the top side of the corresponding vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptor 540 such that the incoming optical fiber 322 is disconnected from the outgoing optical fiber 334 attached to the same vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptor 540.
In one application, the second moving device 512 has electrical motors that move the second movable head 508 in the x-y plane to align the intermediary optical fiber 532 (associated with the incoming optical fiber 322) directly above anyone of the vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptors 540 which are connected to the outgoing optical fibers 334. In addition, the electrical motors can move the second movable head 508 down (to
connect the incoming optical fiber 322 to one of the outgoing optical fibers 334) and up (to disconnect the incoming optical fiber 322 from the corresponding outgoing optical fiber 334). For example, the second moving device 512 can be implemented by a simple x-y plotter which includes the functions of moving in x-y directions and the up/down directions. A multitude of inexpensive x-y plotters exist on the market such as those manufactured by Philips, HP, Xerox, etc.
The controller 514 can be used to control the movement of the first moving device 506 in the x-y directions and the up/down directions. As such, the controller 514 can be used to control the connecting and disconnecting of the incoming optical fiber 322 to and from anyone of the intermediary optical fibers 532. Plus, the controller 514 can be used to control the movement of the second moving device 512 in the x-y directions and the up/down directions. As such, the controller 514 can be used to control the connecting and disconnecting of the incoming optical fiber 322 via one intermediary optical fiber 532 to and from anyone of the outgoing optical fibers 334. If desired, the controller 514 can be remotely controlled via the communication interface 516 from the OTDR device 302 or some other control device (not shown). Alternatively, the optical switch 304b does not need to include the controller 514 therein but instead the OTDR device 302 or some other control device (not shown) can via the communication interface 516 directly control the first and second moving devices 506 and 512. In any case, the controller 514 can include a simple microprocessor and possibly memory and the remote communication can for example be done over a power feeding fiber via low data rate modulation or by other means.
The power supply 518 is used to provide power to the controller 514 (if present) and the first and second moving devices 506 and 512. In this configuration, the power supply 518 provides power to the first moving device 506 when the first movable head 502 is being moved in the x-y plane or is being moved to connect or disconnect the incoming optical fiber 322 to or from one of the intermediary optical fibers 532. However, the power supply 518 does not need to supply power to the first moving device 506 when the first movable head 502 is in a position where the incoming optical fiber 322 is connected to one of the intermediary optical fibers 532. Likewise, the power supply 518 provides power to the second moving device 512 when the second movable head 508 is being moved in the x-y plane or is being moved to connect or disconnect the
intermediary optical fiber 532 to or from one of the outgoing optical fibers 334. However, the power supply 518 does not need to supply power to the second moving device 512 when the second movable head 508 is in a position where one of the intermediary optical fibers 532 is connected to one of the outgoing optical fibers 334. In the event, power is not present at the remote node 308 for the optical switch 304b then power can be feed over any fiber to the optical switch 304b. Alternatively, to reduce the need for large power feeding the optical switch 304b, the power supply 518 can be a battery back that is remotely and continuously charged via a fiber from a remote device such as the OTDR device 302.
FIGURE 5D is a perspective drawing illustrating an exemplary rack-mountable box 550 ("pizza box" 550) which can house the optical switch 304b. In this example, the rack-mountable box 550 has the outgoing optical fibers 334 connected to the bottom (to minimize the box size and cost of adapters/patch-cords) and guided by a fiber guide 552 to the front. To simplify connecting the outgoing optical fibers 334, the rack-mountable box 550 may slide in/out of a rack (not shown). If a 19" wide and 300 mm deep rack-mountable box 550 (i.e. having ~420x300 mm space for connectors) is used then at least 42 lines and 10 columns of vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptors 540 (e.g., 24 fiber MT connectors, each taking -10x3 mm space or 24 Molex fiber connectors, each taking ~7x3 mm space) should fit therein which can receive at least 10,080 outgoing optical fibers 334. In this example, the incoming optical fiber 322 is connected on the front of the rack-mountable box 550 but the incoming optical fiber 322 could be connected to the top of the rack-mountable box 550 to reduce the need for an internal patch-cord to route the incoming optical fiber 322 within the rack-mountable box 550. It should be noted that despite the appearance that the lay-out of the optical switch 304b seems more space consuming than the lay-out of the optical switch 304a, it may likely be that the optical switch 304b costs less and occupies less space or houses more outgoing optical fibers 334 in a given size of a rack-mountable box 550 when compared to the optical switch 304a.
Although two embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated in the accompanying Drawings and described in the foregoing Detailed Description, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but instead is also capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications and substitutions without
departing from the present invention that as has been set forth and defined within the following claims. For instance, the optical switches 304a and 304b do not need to be used in a TDM-PON or even a PON and that the TDM-PON described herein has an exemplary configuration.
Claims
1. An optical switch (304, 304a, 304b) for connecting and disconnecting an incoming optical fiber (322) to and from anyone of a plurality of outgoing optical fibers (334), the optical switch comprising:
a first movable head (402, 502) with a top side for receiving the incoming optical fiber and a bottom side with a downward extending ferrule (416, 522);
a first horizontally mounted support plate (404, 504) which has a plurality of vertically mounted adaptors (420, 526), each vertically mounted adaptor having a bottom side for receiving an optical fiber (334, 532) and a top side for receiving the downward extending ferrule of the first movable head;
a first moving device (406, 506) for moving the first movable head in an x-y plane to position the downward extending ferrule of the first movable head directly over anyone of the plurality of vertically mounted adaptors within the first horizontally mounted support plate;
the first moving device for moving the first movable head downward in a vertical direction to position the downward extending ferrule of the first movable head into the top side of one of the plurality of vertically mounted adaptors in the first horizontally mounted support plate such that the incoming optical fiber is connected to the optical fiber attached to the one vertically mounted adaptor; and
the first moving device for moving the first movable head upward in a vertical direction to remove the downward extending ferrule of the first movable head from the top side of the one vertically mounted adaptor in the first horizontally mounted support plate such that the incoming optical is disconnected from the optical fiber attached to the one vertically mounted adaptor.
2. The optical switch of claim 1, wherein the optical fibers associated with the bottom sides of the vertically mounted adaptors in the first horizontally mounted support plate are the outgoing optical fibers.
3. The optical switch of claim 2, further comprising a controller (408) for controlling the first moving device to position the first movable head directly over anyone of the vertically mounted adaptors in the first horizontally mounted support plate, the controller for controlling the first moving device to move the first movable head downward in the vertical direction to position the downward extending ferrule of the first movable head into the top side of the one vertically mounted adaptor in the first horizontally mounted support plate, and the controller for controlling the first moving device to move the first movable head upward in the vertical direction to remove the downward extending ferrule of the first movable head from the top side of the one vertically mounted adaptor in the first horizontally mounted support plate.
4. The optical switch of claim 2, further comprising a power supply (412) that provides power to the first moving device when the first movable head is being moved in the x-y plane or being moved to connect or disconnect the incoming optical fiber to or from one of the outgoing optical fibers, wherein the power supply does not supply power to the first moving device when the first movable head is in a position where the incoming optical fiber is connected to one of the outgoing optical fibers.
5. The optical switch of claim 2, further comprising a communication interface (410) for enabling remote control of the first moving device so as to move the first movable head in a manner to disconnect or connect the incoming optical fiber to anyone of the outgoing optical fibers.
6. The optical switch of claim 2, wherein the first moving device is an x-y plotter which includes mechanisms for moving in a x direction, a y direction, an upward vertical direction, and a downward vertical direction.
7. The optical switch of claim 1, further comprising:
a second movable head (508) with a top side for receiving the optical fibers from the first horizontally mounted support plate and a bottom side with a downward extending multi-fiber ferrule;
a second horizontally mounted support plate (510) with a plurality of vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptors (540), each vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptor having a bottom side for receiving one or more of the outgoing optical fibers and a top side for receiving the downward extending multi-fiber ferrule of the second movable head; a second moving device (512) for moving the second movable head in an x-y plane to position the downward extending multi-fiber ferrule of the second movable head directly over anyone of the plurality of vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptors within the second horizontally mounted support plate;
the second moving device for moving the second movable head downward in a vertical direction to position the downward extending multi-fiber ferrule of the second movable head into the top side of one of the plurality of vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptors in the second horizontally mounted support plate such that the incoming optical fiber is connected via one optical fiber to the outgoing optical fiber attached to the one vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptor; and
the second moving device for moving the second movable head upward in a vertical direction to remove the downward extending multi-fiber ferrule of the second movable head from the top side of the one vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptor in the second horizontally mounted support plate such that the incoming optical is disconnected from the outgoing optical fiber attached to the one vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptor.
8. The optical switch of claim 7, further comprising:
a controller (514) for controlling the first moving device to position the first movable head directly over anyone of the vertically mounted adaptors in the first horizontally mounted support plate, the controller for controlling the first moving device to move the first movable head downward in the vertical direction to position the downward extending ferrule of the first movable head into the top side of the one vertically mounted adaptor in the first horizontally mounted support plate, and the controller for controlling the first moving device to move the first movable head upward in the vertical direction to remove the downward extending ferrule of the first movable head from the top side of the one vertically mounted adaptor in the first horizontally mounted support plate; and
the controller for controlling the second moving device to position the second movable head directly over anyone of the vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptors in the second horizontally mounted support plate, the controller for controlling the second moving device to move the second movable head downward in the vertical direction to position the downward extending multi-fiber ferrule of the second movable head into the top side of the one vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptor in the second horizontally mounted support plate, and the controller for controlling the second moving device to move the second movable head upward in the vertical direction to remove the downward extending multi-fiber ferrule of the second movable head from the top side of the one vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptor in the second horizontally mounted support plate.
9. The optical switch of claim 7, further comprising:
a power supply (518) for providing power to the first moving device when the first movable head is being moved in the x-y plane or being moved to connect or disconnect the incoming optical fiber to or from one of the optical fibers associated with the first horizontally mounted support plate, wherein the power supply does not supply power to the first moving device when the first movable head is in a position where the incoming optical fiber is connected to one of the optical fibers associated with the first horizontally mounted support plate; and
the power supply for providing power to the second moving device when the second movable head is being moved in the x-y plane or being moved to connect or disconnect one of the optical fibers to one of the outgoing optical fibers, wherein the power supply does not supply power to the second moving device when the second movable head is in a position where the one optical fiber is connected to one of the outgoing optical fibers.
10. The optical switch of claim 7, further comprising:
a communication interface (516) for enabling remote control of the first moving device so as to move the first movable head in a manner to disconnect or connect the incoming optical fiber to anyone of the optical fibers; and
the communication interface for enabling remote control of the second moving device so as to move the second movable head in a manner to disconnect or connect anyone of the optical fibers to anyone of the outgoing optical fibers.
11. The optical switch of claim 7, wherein:
the first moving device is a first x-y plotter which includes mechanisms for moving in a x direction, a y direction, an upward vertical direction, and a downward vertical direction; and
the second moving device is a second x-y plotter which includes mechanisms for moving in the x direction, the y direction, an upward vertical direction, and a downward vertical direction.
12. A passive optical network (300), comprising:
an optical line terminal (306);
an optical time domain reflectometry device (302);
an optical switch (304, 304a, 304b);
a remote node (308) including a first stage power splitter (310), a plurality of second stage power splitters (312) and the optical switch, where the optical line terminal is connected to an input (318) of the first stage power splitter, where the optical time domain reflectometry device is connected via an incoming optical fiber (322) to an input (324) of the optical switch, where the first stage power splitter has outputs (326) connected to inputs (330) of the second stage power splitters, where the optical switch is connected via a plurality of outgoing optical fibers (334) to the inputs of the second stage power splitters;
a plurality of optical network terminations (314) which have inputs (329) connected to outputs (325) of the second stage power splitters; and
the optical switch for connecting and disconnecting the incoming optical fiber to and from anyone of the plurality of outgoing optical fibers, the optical switch comprising:
a first movable head (402, 502) with a top side for receiving the incoming optical fiber and a bottom side with a downward extending ferrule (416, 522);
a first horizontally mounted support plate (404, 504) which has a plurality of vertically mounted adaptors (420, 526), each vertically mounted adaptor having a bottom side for receiving an optical fiber and a top side for receiving the downward extending ferrule of the first movable head; a first moving device (406, 506) for moving the first movable head in an x-y plane to position the downward extending ferrule of the first movable head directly over anyone of the plurality of vertically mounted adaptors within the first horizontally mounted support plate;
the first moving device for moving the first movable head downward in a vertical direction to position the downward extending ferrule of the first movable head into the top side of one of the plurality of vertically mounted adaptors in the first horizontally mounted support plate such that the incoming optical fiber is connected to the optical fiber attached to the one vertically mounted adaptor; and
the first moving device for moving the first movable head upward in a vertical direction to remove the downward extending ferrule of the first movable head from the top side of the one vertically mounted adaptor in the first horizontally mounted support plate such that the incoming optical is disconnected from the optical fiber attached to the one vertically mounted adaptor.
13. The passive optical network of claim 12, wherein the outgoing optical fibers are the optical fibers associated with the bottom sides of the vertically mounted adaptors in the first horizontally mounted support plate of the optical switch.
14. The passive optical network of claim 12, wherein the optical switch further comprising:
a second movable head (508) with a top side for receiving the optical fibers from the first horizontally mounted support plate and a bottom side with a downward extending multi-fiber ferrule (536);
a second horizontally mounted support plate (510) with a plurality of vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptors (540), each vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptor having a bottom side for receiving one or more of the outgoing optical fibers and a top side for receiving the downward extending multi-fiber ferrule of the second movable head; a second moving device (512) for moving the second movable head in an x-y plane to position the downward extending multi-fiber ferrule of the second movable head directly over anyone of the plurality of vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptors within the second horizontally mounted support plate; the second moving device for moving the second movable head downward in a vertical direction to position the downward extending multi-fiber ferrule of the second movable head into the top side of one of the plurality of vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptors in the second horizontally mounted support plate such that the incoming optical fiber is connected to the outgoing optical fiber attached to the one vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptor; and
the second moving device for moving the second movable head upward in a vertical direction to remove the downward extending multi-fiber ferrule of the second movable head from the top side of the one vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptor in the second horizontally mounted support plate such that the incoming optical is disconnected from the outgoing optical fiber attached to the one vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptor.
15. A method for controlling an optical switch (304, 304a, 304b) to connect and disconnect an incoming optical fiber (322) to and from anyone of a plurality of outgoing optical fibers (334), the optical switch comprising:
a first movable head (402, 502) with a top side for receiving the incoming optical fiber and a bottom side with a downward extending ferrule (416, 522);
a first horizontally mounted support plate (404, 504) with a plurality of vertically mounted adaptors (420, 526), each vertically mounted adaptor having a bottom side for receiving an optical fiber (334, 532) and a top side for receiving the downward extending ferrule of the movable head;
a first moving device (406, 506) connected to the first movable head, the method comprising the steps of:
controlling the first moving device to move the first movable head in an x-y plane to position the downward extending ferrule of the first movable head directly over anyone of the plurality of vertically mounted adaptors within the first horizontally mounted support plate;
controlling the first moving device to move the first movable head downward in a vertical direction to position the downward extending ferrule of the first movable head into the top side of one of the plurality of vertically mounted adaptors in the first horizontally mounted support plate such that the incoming optical fiber is connected to the optical fiber attached to the one vertically mounted adaptor in the first horizontally mounted support plate; and
controlling the first moving device to move the first movable head upward in the vertical direction to remove the downward extending ferrule of the first movable head from the top side of the one vertically mounted adaptor in the first horizontally mounted support plate such that the incoming optical is disconnected from the optical fiber attached to the one vertically mounted adaptor in the first horizontally mounted support plate.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the optical fibers associated with the bottom sides of the vertically mounted adaptors in the first horizontally mounted support plate are the outgoing optical fibers.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein the optical switch further includes: a second movable head (508) with a top side for receiving the optical fibers (532) from the first horizontally mounted support plate and a bottom side with a downward extending multi-fiber ferrule (536);
a second horizontally mounted support plate (510) with a plurality of vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptors (540), each vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptor having a bottom side for receiving one or more of the outgoing optical fibers and a top side for receiving the downward extending multi-fiber ferrule of the second movable head; a second moving device (512) connected to the second movable head, the method further comprising:
controlling the second moving device to move the second movable head in an x-y plane to position the downward extending multi-fiber ferrule directly over anyone of the vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptors in the second horizontally mounted support plate;
controlling the second moving device to move the second movable head downward in a vertical direction to position the downward extending multi-fiber ferrule of the second movable head into the top side of the one vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptor in the second horizontally mounted support plate; and controlling the second moving device to move the second movable head upward in the vertical direction to remove the downward extending multi-fiber ferrule of the second movable head from the top side of the one vertically mounted multi-fiber adaptor in the second horizontally mounted support plate.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2010/000047 WO2011086400A1 (en) | 2010-01-12 | 2010-01-12 | Optical switch for passive optical network (pon) supervision |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2010/000047 WO2011086400A1 (en) | 2010-01-12 | 2010-01-12 | Optical switch for passive optical network (pon) supervision |
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| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| WO2011086400A1 true WO2011086400A1 (en) | 2011-07-21 |
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Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2010/000047 WO2011086400A1 (en) | 2010-01-12 | 2010-01-12 | Optical switch for passive optical network (pon) supervision |
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| Country | Link |
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| WO (1) | WO2011086400A1 (en) |
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| WO2013028110A1 (en) * | 2011-08-24 | 2013-02-28 | Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) | Methods and apparatuses for supervision of optical networks |
| CN103823301A (en) * | 2012-11-16 | 2014-05-28 | 福州高意通讯有限公司 | N*M optical switch |
| US9008503B2 (en) | 2011-03-21 | 2015-04-14 | Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ) | Supervision of wavelength division multiplexed optical networks |
| US9281892B2 (en) | 2011-06-30 | 2016-03-08 | Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) | OTDR trace analysis in PON systems |
| US9417395B2 (en) * | 2014-12-29 | 2016-08-16 | Verizon Patent And Licensing Inc. | Optical interface with traffic protection using multi-optical path photonic switch |
| CN111123139A (en) * | 2018-10-30 | 2020-05-08 | 中国移动通信集团广东有限公司 | Power supply guarantee system, early warning device and guarantee and early warning method of optical line terminal |
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| US9281892B2 (en) | 2011-06-30 | 2016-03-08 | Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) | OTDR trace analysis in PON systems |
| WO2013028108A1 (en) * | 2011-08-24 | 2013-02-28 | Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) | Pon supervision using otdr measurements |
| WO2013028110A1 (en) * | 2011-08-24 | 2013-02-28 | Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) | Methods and apparatuses for supervision of optical networks |
| US9231696B2 (en) | 2011-08-24 | 2016-01-05 | Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ) | Methods and apparatuses for supervision of optical networks |
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