Optical transceiver separating incoming and outgoing signals of same wavelength

摘要

An optical transceiver 10 and method for bidirectionally communicating optical signals in an optical transceiver involve an optical element 30 that bidirectionally separates incoming and outgoing optical signals of the same wavelength. The optical element can be a diffractive element such as a grating or, alternatively, a partially reflective element such as a transparent block having a thin-film coating. The transceiver has a optical fibre port 16 and the optical element is interposed along an axis of the fibre port and is configured to pass a first portion of a transmitted optical signal from the light source 20 through the optical element to the optical fibre port along the axis and a first opto-electronic light detector 22 is oriented to receive a received optical signal redirected from the optical element at a fist non-zero angle with respect to the axis. The transceiver may have a second or monitor light detector 24 to receive a second portion of the transmitted optical signal diffracted at a second non-zero angle.