Optical device and method implemented in switcher

Abstract

The optical device includes a transmitter module, a receiver module, and a switch including: a first port coupled to the transmitter module, a second port coupled to the receiver module, configured to couple to the transmitter optical fiber and a fourth port configured to be coupled to a receiver optical fiber. A method implemented in a switcher, the method comprising: operating in a monitor mode that provides monitoring of either a transmitter fiber or a receiver fiber; receiving a command to transition from the monitor mode to a data mode; connecting the transmitter module to the transmit the receiver fiber; and connecting the receiver module to the receiver fiber.

Description

[0001] Cross References to Related Applications [0002] This application claims priority to and benefit of U.S. Nonprovisional Patent Application No. 14 / 867,665, filed September 28, 2015, entitled "Optical Network Monitoring with a Photonic Switch," which is hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth in Its entire content is copied the same. Background technique [0003] Optical performance monitoring (OPM) is important in future agile optical networks (AON) where any fiber issue will cause significant downtime and operating costs to the network infrastructure. OPM should be available for each individual device connected to the fiber. Without OPM, finding faulty fibers can be difficult, especially when fiber density and system complexity are high. An optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) is a device used to monitor optical fibers as part of OPM. However, typical external handheld OTDRs are bulky, power-hungry, and expensive. Contents of the invention [0004] I...

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However, typical external handheld OTDRs are bulky, power hungry and expensive

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