Reconfigurable OADM and OXC designed by a new optical switch

Abstract A new dynamically selective optical add/drop multiplexer (OADM) and optical cross-connect (OXC) configuration for dense wavelength division multiplexed (DWDM) networks are proposed. The selective devices are based on fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs), single-sided micro-mirror optical switches (OSWs), and optical circulators (OCs). They are flexible, expandable, and high capacity in DWDM networks if the basic units are cascaded in series. In this paper, fiber collimators in coupling are analyzed in order to characterize the insertion loss and output power equalization in OADM and OXC. “Off-the-shelf” DWDM communication products are used for analysis; as a result, the main insertion loss in the system comes from circulators while the maximum insertion loss deviation comes mainly from FBGs and micro-mirrors. As compared to the other existing reconfigurable OADMs and OXCs, the number of mirrors in the optical switch could be dramatically reduced. The reliability of optical switch operation, therefore, can be enhanced.