POLARIZATION INDEPENDENT TRANSMISSIVE/REFLECTIVE OPTICAL SWITCH

摘要

In an optical fibre system, an optical fibre is monitored to determine if a transmitted signal is being received at a receiving end. A bi-modal optical switch located between the laser transmitter and receiver operates in a first transmitting mode to allow a transmitted signal to pass through and in a second reflecting mode t o reflect back the transmitted signal to the transmitting end. A monitor at the transmittin g end monitors the fibre for the absence or presence of the reflected signal. The switch ca n be used to remotely monitor the receiver in an optical fibre link, to control handshaki ng between two computers, to remove idle sections from an optical fibre communications network, and to control the reflectance of a laser mirror.