Multi-fiber multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing device, and optical communication system

Abstract

A multi-fiber multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) device (100), and an optical communication system using the multi-fiber multi-channel WDM device (100). The multi-fiber multi-channel WDM device (100) comprises: a first microlens array (10), a filter unit (20), a transparent substrate (30), and a second microlens array (40). The first microlens array (10) comprises microlenses arranged in M rows and N columns, wherein M represents the number of wavelength channels, and N represents the number of optical fibers; the filter unit (20) comprises M filter bands each having a center wavelength; a first surface (31) of the transparent substrate (30) is partially coated with a total reflection coating; and the second microlens array (40) comprises microlenses arranged in one row and N columns, wherein N represents the number of optical fibers. The shaping of light beams is realized by means of the microlens arrays, and the multi-fiber multi-channel WDM device (100) is used to increase the bandwidth of a current network based on standard WDM technology by N times, thereby satisfying bandwidth requirements of big data processing for optical communication at the present stage.

Description

Multi-fiber multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing device and optical communication system Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of optical communication technology, specifically to a multi-fiber multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing device and an optical communication system. Background Technology

[0002] Wavelength division multiplexers (WDMs) have been developed for many years, with key work completed by Michael Scobey in 1996. As technology has advanced, improvements have been made to WDMs in terms of performance, manufacturability, and smaller size.

[0003] However, the existing wavelength division multiplexing devices and systems are all based on single-fiber, multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing devices, which cannot meet the current bandwidth requirements of big data processing for optical communication. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of the above problems, this application provides a multi-fiber multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing device and system to solve the problem that existing wavelength division multiplexing devices and systems cannot meet the current bandwidth requirements of big data processing for optical communication.

[0005] According to one aspect of the embodiments of this application, a multi-fiber multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing device is provided, comprising: a first microlens array, a filtering unit, a transparent substrate, and a second microlens array, wherein:

[0006] The first microlens array comprises M rows and N columns of microlenses, where M represents the number of channels and N represents the number of optical fibers;

[0007] The filtering unit includes M filter bands with a center wavelength;

[0008] A portion of the first side of the transparent substrate is coated with a total reflection coating.

[0009] The second microlens array consists of 1 row and N columns of microlenses, where N represents the number of optical fibers.

[0010] This application embodiment achieves beam shaping through a microlens array and employs a multi-fiber, multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing device, increasing the bandwidth of current networks based on standard WDM technology by N times, which can meet the current bandwidth requirements of big data processing for optical communication.

[0011] In one alternative approach, the filter band is a thin-film filter band.

[0012] This application's embodiments achieve a compact footprint for multi-fiber, multi-channel devices by employing closely spaced microlens arrays, thin-film filter strips, tightly packed fiber strips, fiber bundles, or multi-core fibers. It also effectively utilizes thin-film filter strip assemblies, replacing individual lenses with MLAs, thereby saving material and labor costs.

[0013] Another aspect of this application provides an optical fiber communication system, including the aforementioned multi-fiber multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing device. The optical fiber communication system further includes an input end and an output end, which are respectively connected to the first microlens array and the second microlens array.

[0014] Another aspect of this application provides an optical fiber communication system, including the aforementioned multi-fiber multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing device. The optical fiber communication system further includes an input end and an output end, the input end and the output end being respectively connected to the second microlens array and the first microlens array.

[0015] In one alternative embodiment, the input and output terminals are fiber ribbons, fiber bundles, or multi-core fibers.

[0016] The above description is only an overview of the technical solution of this application. In order to better understand the technical means of this application and to implement it in accordance with the contents of the specification, and to make the above and other objects, features and advantages of this application more obvious and understandable, the following are specific embodiments of this application. Attached Figure Description

[0017] Various other advantages and benefits will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description of preferred embodiments. The accompanying drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of this application. Furthermore, the same reference numerals denote the same parts throughout the drawings. In the drawings:

[0018] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the main structure of the multi-fiber multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0019] Figure 2 is a top view of the multi-fiber multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing device provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0020] Figure 3 is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the multi-fiber multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing device provided in the embodiment of this application.

[0021] The reference numerals in the detailed embodiments are as follows: 100, optical fiber communication system; 10, first microlens array, 10', end face of the first microlens array; 20, filtering unit; 30, transparent substrate, 31, first surface; 40, second microlens array, 40', end face of the second microlens array. Detailed Implementation

[0022] The embodiments of the technical solution of this application will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. These embodiments are only used to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of this application and are therefore merely examples, and should not be used to limit the scope of protection of this application.

[0023] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application pertains; the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the application; the terms “comprising” and “having”, and any variations thereof, in the specification, claims, and foregoing description of the drawings are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion.

[0024] In the description of the embodiments of this application, technical terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish different objects and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number, specific order, or primary and secondary relationship of the indicated technical features. In the description of the embodiments of this application, "multiple" means two or more, unless otherwise explicitly defined.

[0025] In this document, the term "embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of this application. The appearance of this phrase in various places throughout the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor is it a separate or alternative embodiment mutually exclusive with other embodiments. It will be explicitly and implicitly understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments.

[0026] In the description of the embodiments in this application, the term "and / or" is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent three cases: A exists, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists. In addition, the character " / " in this document generally indicates that the related objects before and after it have an "or" relationship.

[0027] In the description of the embodiments of this application, the term "multiple" refers to two or more (including two), similarly, "multiple sets" refers to two or more (including two sets), and "multiple pieces" refers to two or more (including two pieces).

[0028] In the description of the embodiments of this application, the technical terms "center," "longitudinal," "lateral," "length," "width," "thickness," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," "clockwise," "counterclockwise," "axial," "radial," and "circumferential" indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing the embodiments of this application and simplifying the description, and are not intended to indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on the embodiments of this application.

[0029] In the description of the embodiments of this application, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, technical terms such as "installation," "connection," "joining," and "fixing" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral part; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; they can refer to the internal communication of two components or the interaction between two components. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in the embodiments of this application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0030] WDM has been developing for many years, with key work completed by Michael Scobey in 1996. As technology has advanced, improvements have been made to WDM in terms of performance, manufacturability, and smaller size.

[0031] However, the inventors of this application have noted that the wavelength division multiplexing devices and systems disclosed in the prior art are all based on single-fiber, multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing devices, which cannot meet the current bandwidth requirements of big data processing for optical communication.

[0032] To address the aforementioned technical problems, the inventors of this application, through research, have provided a novel WDM device and system based on multiple optical fibers and multiple channels, for use in data center networks or fiber optic communication networks. These networks typically use multiple optical fibers or multi-core optical fibers to increase their bandwidth. This technology is called Spatial Division Multiplexing (SDM).

[0033] Figure 1 shows a front view of the multi-fiber multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing device provided in the embodiment of this application; Figure 2 shows a top view of the multi-fiber multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing device provided in the embodiment of this application; Figure 3 shows a three-dimensional view of the multi-fiber multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing device provided in the embodiment of this application.

[0034] In this application embodiment, both the input and output ends are array beams.

[0035] Taking an input array of M x N beams as an example, referring to Figures 1 to 3, the multi-fiber multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing device 100 provided in this application embodiment includes a first microlens array 10, a filtering unit 20, a transparent substrate 30, and a second microlens array 40, wherein 10' represents a schematic diagram of the end face of the first microlens array, and 40' represents a schematic diagram of the end face of the second microlens array.

[0036] The first micro-optics lens array 10 (MLA) includes M rows and N columns of microlenses, where M represents the number of channels (wavelengths) and N represents the number of optical fibers; it is used to shape the M x N beams input from the input end, generally by collimation, to make them easier to process.

[0037] The filtering unit 20 includes M filter bands with a central wavelength (CWL); preferably thin-film filter (TFF); used to select the light beam with the central wavelength so that light beams with the same central wavelength pass through one filter band;

[0038] A portion of the first surface 31 of the transparent substrate 30 is coated with a total reflection coating, enabling light beams of different wavelengths to be coupled into a single beam through reflection.

[0039] The second microlens array 40 consists of 1 row and N columns of microlenses, where N represents the number of optical fibers; the N coupled beams are focused to the output end by the second microlens array 40.

[0040] In this embodiment of the application, an array beam with an input end (e.g., an M x N fiber bundle) is passed through the multi-fiber multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing device to form a 1 x N array beam, which is then coupled into N fiber bundles or multi-core optical fibers.

[0041] According to the principle of optical path reversibility, the transmission direction of the above array beams can be reversed, which means that the input end can be N multi-wavelength array beams coupled into an M x N fiber bundle.

[0042] The embodiments of this application employ M x N multi-fiber multi-channel WDM, where N=8 and M=4, using a first microlens array (4x8 microlens array), a filtering unit (4 thin-film filter bands), a transparent substrate with one side partially coated with a total reflection coating, and a second microlens array (1x8 microlens array).

[0043] In this embodiment of the application, by employing a multi-fiber, multi-channel WDM device, the bandwidth of the current network based on standard WDM technology is increased by N times (N is an integer greater than or equal to 2).

[0044] In this embodiment, by employing a closely spaced microlens array, thin-film filter strip, tightly packed fiber strip, fiber bundle, or multi-core fiber, the multi-fiber multi-channel device occupies a small space. It also effectively utilizes the thin-film filter strip assembly, replacing individual lenses with MLAs, thereby saving material and labor costs.

[0045] This application also provides an optical communication system including the aforementioned multi-fiber multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) device. The optical communication system further includes an input end and an output end, which are respectively connected to the first microlens array and the second microlens array. Alternatively, the input end and the output end are respectively connected to the second microlens array and the first microlens array. The input end and the output end can be fiber ribbons, fiber bundles, or multi-core optical fibers. The multi-fiber multi-channel WDM device and optical communication system provided in this application can be applied to data centers, optical fiber communication, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) technology, and other fields.

[0046] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of this application, and not to limit them. Although this application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some or all of the technical features therein. These modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, and they should all be covered within the scope of the claims and specification of this application. In particular, as long as there is no structural conflict, the various technical features mentioned in the embodiments can be combined in any way. This application is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed herein, but includes all technical solutions falling within the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A multi-fiber multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing device, characterized in that, include: The system comprises a first microlens array, a filter unit, a transparent substrate, and a second microlens array, wherein: The first microlens array comprises M rows and N columns of microlenses, where M represents the number of channels and N represents the number of optical fibers; The filtering unit includes M filter bands with a center wavelength; A portion of the first side of the transparent substrate is coated with a total reflection coating. The second microlens array consists of 1 row and N columns of microlenses, where N represents the number of optical fibers.

2. The fiber optic coupler according to claim 1, characterized in that, The filter band is a thin-film filter band.

3. An optical fiber communication system, characterized in that, The optical fiber communication system includes the multi-fiber multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing device as described in claim 1 or 2, and further includes an input end and an output end, wherein the input end and the output end are respectively connected to the first microlens array and the second microlens array.

4. The optical fiber communication system according to claim 3, characterized in that, The input end and the output end are fiber ribbons, fiber bundles or multi-core optical fibers.

5. An optical fiber communication system, characterized in that, The optical fiber communication system includes the multi-fiber multi-channel wavelength division multiplexing device as described in claim 1 or 2, and further includes an input end and an output end, wherein the input end and the output end are respectively connected to the second microlens array and the first microlens array.

6. The optical fiber communication system according to claim 5, characterized in that, The input end and the output end are fiber ribbons, fiber bundles or multi-core optical fibers.

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