Broadband hitless bypass switch for integrated photonic circuits

A new microphotonic hitless switch is proposed. By enabling continuous, uninterrupted transition to a bypass path, it permits tuning of wavelength add-drop filters without disturbing intermediate channels. The scheme comprises two symmetrically actuated, 2 times 2 Deltabeta-type optical switches, an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inIEEE photonics technology letters Vol. 18; no. 10; pp. 1137 - 1139
Main Authors Haus, H.A., Popovic, M.A., Watts, M.R.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York IEEE 15.05.2006
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Subjects
Add-drop filters
Balancing
Bypasses
Channels
hitless switching
Interferometers
Laboratories
Optical filters
Optical interferometry
Optical losses
Optical resonators
Optical switches
Optical switching
Optical tuning
Optical waveguides
Phase shifting interferometry
Photonics
resonators
Switches
Switching circuits
Tuning
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Summary:A new microphotonic hitless switch is proposed. By enabling continuous, uninterrupted transition to a bypass path, it permits tuning of wavelength add-drop filters without disturbing intermediate channels. The scheme comprises two symmetrically actuated, 2 times 2 Deltabeta-type optical switches, antisymmetrically cascaded in a balanced Mach-Zehnder configuration, and a pi differential phase shift in the interferometer arms. By symmetry, it provides for wavelength-independent hitless operation before, during and after switch reconfiguration, permitting slow switching independent of bit rate. Compact implementations using high-index-contrast microelectromechanical-system (MEMS)-actuated switches are proposed
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:1041-1135
1941-0174
DOI:10.1109/LPT.2006.873929