Making connections through an optical circuit switch

摘要

An optical circuit switch and method. A first mirror element rotates about orthogonal axes in response to first and second voltages applied respectively to first and second electrodes. A second mirror element rotates about orthogonal axes in response to third and fourth voltages applied respectively to the third and fourth electrodes. A controller may apply first through fourth voltages respectively to the first through fourth electrodes to make a connection between first and second ports. When an initial insertion loss of the connection does not exceed a predetermined threshold, the controller may conduct independent single-dimension searches to determine values for the first through fourth voltages that minimize the insertion loss. When the initial insertion loss exceeds the predetermined threshold, the controller may conduct a four-dimensional search to determine values for the first through fourth voltages that reduce the insertion loss to not exceed the predetermined threshold.

主权项

1. An optical circuit switch, comprising:
a first port associated with a first mirror element, the first mirror element rotatable about orthogonal axes in response to first and second voltages applied respectively to first and second electrodes coupled to the first mirror element; a second port associated with a second mirror element, the second mirror element rotatable about orthogonal axes in response to third and fourth voltages applied respectively to third and fourth electrodes coupled to the second mirror element; and a controller that, upon receipt of a command to make a connection between the first port and the second port, performs actions comprising:
applying nominal values for the first, second, third, and fourth voltages respectively to the to the first, second, third, and fourth electrodes to make an optical connection from the first port to the second port,determining an initial insertion loss for the optical connection,if the initial insertion loss is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, conducting four independent single-dimension searches to determine values for the first, second, third, and fourth voltages that minimize the insertion loss, andwhen the initial insertion loss is greater than the predetermined threshold, conducting a four-dimensional search to determine values for the first, second, third, and fourth voltages that reduce the insertion loss to less than or equal to the predetermined threshold.