CN-119882145-B - Optical switch

CN119882145BCN 119882145 BCN119882145 BCN 119882145BCN-119882145-B

Abstract

The invention discloses an optical switch, which comprises an input beam control array and an output beam control array, wherein the input beam control array and the output beam control array comprise a plurality of beam control units, each beam control unit comprises an optical fiber and a collimating lens, the end part of the optical fiber is close to the front focal plane of the collimating lens, and the optical fiber can controllably move on a plane perpendicular to an input optical axis. Each input beam control unit and each output beam control unit of the optical switch are independently arranged, on one hand, the single beam control unit is convenient to adjust or replace, the whole array is not required to be affected, and on the other hand, the modularized beam control unit can realize seamless expansion from small-scale ports to large-scale ports. And the direction of the collimated light beam can be adjusted by the tiny movement of the optical fiber on the two-dimensional plane, so that the adjustment precision is higher. The optical switch simplifies the system architecture, improves the efficiency and reliability of optical switching, and provides an innovative solution for large-scale and high-efficiency application of the modern optical communication network.

Inventors

ZHENG XUEZHE

Assignees

苏州旭创科技有限公司

Dates

Publication Date: 20260508
Application Date: 20250326

Claims (9)

1. An optical switch, comprising: An input beam steering array formed by stacking a plurality of independent input beam steering unit arrays, each of the input beam steering units having a respective input optical axis; An output beam steering array formed by stacking a plurality of independent arrays of output beam steering units, each of said output beam steering units having a respective output optical axis, each of said input beam steering units being configured to correspond to one of said output beam steering units, The input beam control array and the output beam control array are oppositely arranged along a first direction, at least part of the input optical axis is inclined relative to the first direction, the inclination direction of the input optical axis is directed at or leans against the center of the output beam control array, at least part of the output optical axis is inclined relative to the first direction, and the inclination direction of the output optical axis is directed at or leans against the center of the input beam control array; the optical fiber optical module comprises an input optical beam control unit and an output optical beam control unit, wherein the input optical beam control unit and the output optical beam control unit are independently packaged in a strip-shaped module, the input optical beam control unit and the output optical beam control unit comprise optical fibers, a collimating lens, a first moving table and a second moving table which are mutually connected, the end parts of the optical fibers are close to the front focal plane of the collimating lens, the optical fibers are fixed on the second moving table, the first moving table drives the second moving table and the optical fibers to move on a plane perpendicular to an input optical axis or an output optical axis, the first moving table drives the second moving table and the optical fibers to move in a second direction, the second direction and the third direction are mutually perpendicular, and the second direction and the third direction are perpendicular to the input optical axis or the output optical axis.
2. The optical switch of claim 1, wherein the angle of inclination of the input optical axis from the first direction increases gradually from the center of the input beam steering array toward the edge; And the inclination angle of the output optical axis and the first direction is gradually increased from the center of the output beam control array to the edge direction.
3. The optical switch of claim 2, wherein an end face of each of the input beam steering units for an input beam is disposed on a first spherical surface having a center of sphere on a side of the input beam steering array adjacent to the output beam steering array; the end face of each output beam control unit for outputting the light beam is arranged on a second spherical surface, and the spherical center of the second spherical surface is positioned on one side of the output beam control array, which is close to the input beam control array.
4. The optical switch of claim 3, wherein a center of the first sphere is located at a center of the input beam steering array; the sphere center of the second sphere is positioned at the center of the output beam control array.
5. The optical switch of claim 1, wherein the input beam control unit and the output beam control unit are provided as the same beam control unit.
6. The optical switch of claim 1, wherein the light from the optical fiber is parallel to an optical axis of the collimating lens, and the collimating lens refracts the light from the optical fiber toward a self-focal position.
7. An optical switch, comprising: An input beam steering array formed by stacking a plurality of independent input beam steering unit arrays, each of the input beam steering units having a respective input optical axis; an output beam control array formed by stacking a plurality of independent arrays of output beam control units, each of the output beam control units having a respective output optical axis, each of the input beam control units being configured to correspond to one of the output beam control units; the input beam control array and the output beam control array are distributed along a fourth direction, and an input optical axis of each input beam control unit and an output optical axis of each output beam control unit are parallel to the fourth direction; The input beam control unit and the output beam control unit are respectively and independently packaged in a strip-shaped module, the input beam control unit and the output beam control unit respectively comprise an optical fiber, a collimating lens, a first moving table and a second moving table which are mutually connected, the end part of the optical fiber is close to the front focal plane of the collimating lens, the optical fiber is fixed on the second moving table, the first moving table and the second moving table are arranged to adjust the moving distance of the optical fiber through a piezoelectric ceramic driving element, the first moving table drives the second moving table and the optical fiber to move on a plane perpendicular to an input optical axis or an output optical axis, the first moving table drives the second moving table and the optical fiber to move in a second direction, the second moving table drives the optical fiber to move in a third direction, the second direction and the third direction are mutually perpendicular, and the second direction and the third direction are both perpendicular to the input optical axis or the output optical axis.
8. An optical switch, comprising: The input beam control array is formed by stacking a plurality of independent input beam control unit arrays, each input beam control unit is provided with a corresponding input optical axis, and the input optical axes of the input beam control units are arranged along the same direction; An output beam control array formed by stacking a plurality of independent output beam control unit arrays, each of the output beam control units having a respective corresponding output optical axis, each of the input beam control units being configured to correspond to one of the output beam control units, the output optical axes of each of the output beam control units being disposed in the same direction; A first reflector, wherein the incident angle of the input light beam control array is equal to the exit angle of the output light beam control array, so that the light beam output by the input light beam control array is reflected to the output light beam control array through the first reflector; The input beam control unit and the output beam control unit are respectively and independently packaged in a strip-shaped module, the input beam control unit and the output beam control unit respectively comprise an optical fiber, a collimating lens, a first moving table and a second moving table which are mutually connected, the end part of the optical fiber is close to the front focal plane of the collimating lens, the optical fiber is fixed on the second moving table, the first moving table and the second moving table are arranged to adjust the moving distance of the optical fiber through a piezoelectric ceramic driving element, the first moving table drives the second moving table and the optical fiber to move on a plane perpendicular to an input optical axis or an output optical axis, the first moving table drives the second moving table and the optical fiber to move in a second direction, the second moving table drives the optical fiber to move in a third direction, the second direction and the third direction are mutually perpendicular, and the second direction and the third direction are both perpendicular to the input optical axis or the output optical axis.
9. An optical switch, comprising: The input beam control array is formed by stacking a plurality of independent input beam control unit arrays, each input beam control unit is provided with a respective corresponding input optical axis, and the input optical axes of each input beam control unit are arranged along the same direction; an output beam control array formed by stacking a plurality of independent output beam control unit arrays, wherein each output beam control unit has a respective corresponding output optical axis, each input beam control unit is configured to correspond to one output beam control unit, and the output optical axes of each output beam control unit are arranged along the same direction; The second reflecting mirror and the third reflecting mirror are symmetrically arranged on two sides of the symmetrical plane by taking the plane between the input beam control array and the output beam control array as the symmetrical plane, the light path from the input beam control array to the second reflecting mirror is symmetrical to the light path from the output beam control array to the third reflecting mirror, and the input central axis of the input beam control array and the output central axis of the output beam control array are parallel to the symmetrical plane; The input beam control unit and the output beam control unit are respectively and independently packaged in a strip-shaped module, the input beam control unit and the output beam control unit respectively comprise an optical fiber, a collimating lens, a first moving table and a second moving table which are mutually connected, the end part of the optical fiber is close to the front focal plane of the collimating lens, the optical fiber is fixed on the second moving table, the first moving table and the second moving table are arranged to adjust the moving distance of the optical fiber through a piezoelectric ceramic driving element, the first moving table drives the second moving table and the optical fiber to move on a plane perpendicular to an input optical axis or an output optical axis, the first moving table drives the second moving table and the optical fiber to move in a second direction, the second moving table drives the optical fiber to move in a third direction, the second direction and the third direction are mutually perpendicular, and the second direction and the third direction are both perpendicular to the input optical axis or the output optical axis.

Description

Optical switch Technical Field The present invention relates to the field of optical communications technologies, and in particular, to an optical switch. Background Optical switches play a vital role in modern communication networks, data centers and optical fiber communication systems, mainly for enabling flexible switching and routing of optical signals. The optical switch achieves direct switching of optical signals between input and output ports by precise beam steering and dynamic adjustment in free space. The beam control unit is a core component and is responsible for accurately guiding an input beam to a target output port by controlling the direction of the beam. In the conventional technology, the input and output beam control parts of the optical switch adopt an integral or row type structure, and the integral or row type structure has some defects that a single beam control unit cannot be independently adjusted or replaced. When a unit in the system fails or needs to be upgraded, the entire array or the entire row of components often needs to be replaced, resulting in high maintenance cost and limited expansibility. As the number of ports increases, it is difficult to meet the need for large-scale expansion. And the monolithic structure is difficult to fine tune precisely for a single port, limiting the flexibility and accuracy of optical path control. And some optical path adjustments rely on rotation of the mirror, such complex three-dimensional rotations place high demands on the accuracy of the drive. Accordingly, there is room for improvement in the structure flexibility, optical path control accuracy, production cost, and large-scale expansion capability of the conventional optical switch. Disclosure of Invention In order to solve at least one of the above technical problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical switch that realizes efficient adjustment of the beam direction and has good modularization characteristics, control accuracy and expandability. To achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention provides an optical switch, including: An input beam control array comprising a plurality of input beam control units arranged in an array, each input beam control unit having a respective input optical axis, the input beam control units comprising an optical fiber and a collimating lens, the ends of the optical fibers being adjacent to the front focal plane of the collimating lens, the optical fibers being controllably movable in a plane perpendicular to the input optical axes; An output beam steering array comprising a plurality of output beam steering units arranged in an array, each of said output beam steering units having a respective output optical axis, each of said input beam steering units being configured to correspond to one of said output beam steering units, said output beam steering units comprising an optical fiber and a collimating lens, said optical fiber end being adjacent a front focal plane of said collimating lens, said optical fiber being controllably movable in a plane perpendicular to said output optical axis; The input beam control array and the output beam control array are oppositely arranged along a first direction, at least part of the input optical axis is inclined relative to the first direction, the inclination direction of the input optical axis is directed at or leans against the center of the output beam control array, at least part of the output optical axis is inclined relative to the first direction, and the inclination direction of the output optical axis is directed at or leans against the center of the input beam control array. As a further improvement of the present invention, the inclination angle of the input optical axis from the first direction gradually increases from the center of the input beam control array to the direction of the edge; And the inclination angle of the output optical axis and the first direction is gradually increased from the center of the output beam control array to the edge direction. As a further improvement of the present invention, an end face for an input beam of each of the input beam control units is arranged on a first spherical surface, a center of which is located on a side of the input beam control array close to the output beam control array; the end face of each output beam control unit for outputting the light beam is arranged on a second spherical surface, and the spherical center of the second spherical surface is positioned on one side of the output beam control array, which is close to the input beam control array. As a further improvement of the present invention, the sphere center of the first sphere is located at the center of the input beam steering array; the sphere center of the second sphere is positioned at the center of the output beam control array. As a further improvement of the present invention, the input beam control unit and the output beam contr