US-12625326-B2 - Intelligent optical switch

US12625326B2US 12625326 B2US12625326 B2US 12625326B2US-12625326-B2

Abstract

An optical assembly includes a connector assembly, a plurality of port assemblies, and a frame assembly. The connector assembly includes an optical fiber connector. The plurality of port assemblies is fixed in position relative to each other. The frame assembly includes a frame directly attached to the connector assembly or directly attached to the plurality of port assemblies. The frame is moveable to align the connector with each of the port assemblies. The connector is insertable into each of the port assemblies when the connector is aligned with a respective one of the port assemblies by moving the connector or the respective port assembly aligned with the connector along a single axis and into the respective port assembly.

Inventors

Kenichiro Takeuchi
David Zhi Chen
Haiguang Lu

Assignees

GO!FOTON HOLDINGS, INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20240620

Claims (15)

1 . An optical system comprising: a plurality of first connectors configured for conveying optical signals; a plurality of second connectors configured for conveying optical signals; a first optical switch configured for conveying optical signals conveyed from one or both of the plurality of first connectors and the plurality of second connectors; and a first component, wherein the first optical switch is configured for selectively passing optical signals conveyed from the one or both of the plurality of first connectors and the plurality of second connectors to the first component.
2 . The optical system of claim 1 , further comprising an optical filter, wherein the first optical switch is configured for receiving optical signals conveyed from the one or both of the plurality of first connectors and the plurality of second connectors from the optical filter.
3 . The optical system of claim 2 , wherein the optical filter is a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) or optical tap module.
4 . The optical system of claim 1 , further comprising: an optical splitter or a second optical switch configured for conveying optical signals, the first component being in optical communication with one of the optical splitter and the second optical switch; and a second component in optical communication with the one of the optical splitter and the second optical switch, wherein optical signals received by the one of the optical splitter and the second optical switch are i) filtered into a first portion conveyed to the first component and a second portion conveyed to the second component when the optical system comprises the optical splitter and ii) conveyed to either the first component or the second component when the optical system comprises the second optical switch.
5 . The optical system of claim 4 , wherein the optical splitter is a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) unit.
6 . The optical system of claim 4 , wherein the first optical switch is configured to convey optical signals conveyed from only one of the plurality of first connectors to the optical splitter or from only one of the plurality of second connectors to the optical splitter.
7 . The optical system of claim 4 , wherein the first optical switch is configured to convey optical signals conveyed from more than one of the plurality of first connectors and the plurality of second connectors to the optical splitter.
8 . The optical system of claim 7 , wherein the optical splitter is configured for conveying optical signals conveyed from only one of the plurality of first connectors or from only one of the plurality of second connectors to the first component or to the second component.
9 . The optical system of claim 7 , further comprising first optical fibers extending between the first optical switch and the plurality of first connectors and second optical fibers extending between the first optical switch and the plurality of second connectors.
10 . The optical system of claim 4 , wherein each of the first component and the second component is a distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) module, an optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR), an optical transmitter, or an optical receiver and the second component, and wherein the first component is different than the second component.
11 . The optical system of claim 1 , wherein the first optical switch is configured for switching optical signals being conveyed from a first connector of the plurality of first connectors to a second connector of the plurality of second connectors to being conveyed from the first connector to a third connector of the plurality of second connectors.
12 . An optical system comprising: a first connector configured for conveying optical signals; a second connector configured for conveying optical signals; a first optical switch configured for conveying optical signals conveyed from one or both of the first connector and the second connector; one of an optical splitter or a second optical switch configured for conveying optical signals; a first component in optical communication with the one of the optical splitter or the second optical switch; and a second component in optical communication with the one of the optical splitter or the second optical switch, wherein the first optical switch is configured for selectively passing optical signals conveyed from the one or both of the first connector and the second connector to the one of the optical splitter or the second optical switch, and wherein optical signals received by the one of the optical splitter or the second optical switch are i) filtered into a first portion conveyed to the first component and a second portion conveyed to the second component when the optical system comprises the optical splitter and ii) conveyed to either the first component or the second component when the optical system comprises the second optical switch.
13 . The optical system of claim 12 , further comprising an optical filter, wherein the first optical switch is configured for receiving optical signals conveyed from the one or both of the first connector and the second connector from the optical filter.
14 . The optical system of claim 13 , wherein the optical filter is a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) or optical tap module.
15 . The optical system of claim 12 , wherein the optical splitter is a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) unit.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/366,551, filed on Jul. 2, 2021, which claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/047,522, filed Jul. 2, 2020, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND Optical fibers are optically connected to respective opposing optical fibers to convey signals between the respective connected fibers, which may occur in the operation of data storage and transmission devices. To establish connections between respective opposing optical fibers, connectors on ends of respective opposing optical fibers are inserted into ports on opposing ends of adapters. Sometimes optical connections between opposing optical fibers need to be changed due to service disruptions and failures, due to a need to reduce the latency of a particular optical signal being conveyed, or simply due to a customer associated with optical signals being conveyed along a particular fiber ending a subscription to a service, e.g., a cable service. In such circumstances, technicians need to travel to the site of the interconnection of the opposing optical fibers, open an enclosure where such interconnection is made, remove one of the interconnected optical fibers to break the optical connection between the fibers, and when appropriate connect another optical fiber within the enclosure in place of the removed optical fiber to restore or replace service. Travel and labor costs due to these disruptions are inefficient and undesirable. Therefore, there exists a need for improvements in switching optical fiber connections. BRIEF SUMMARY In accordance with an aspect, an optical switch may include a first connector assembly, a plurality of optical port assemblies, and a frame assembly. The first connector assembly may include a first optical fiber connector and a first optical fiber having an end extending from the first optical fiber connector. The plurality of optical port assemblies may be fixed in position relative to each other. The frame assembly may include a first frame that may be directly attached to the connector assembly or directly attached to the plurality of port assemblies. The first frame may be moveable to align the first optical fiber connector with any one of the port assemblies. The first optical fiber connector may be insertable into each one of the port assemblies when the first optical fiber connector is aligned with a respective one of the port assemblies by moving the first optical fiber connector or the respective port assembly aligned with the first optical fiber connector along a single axis and into the respective port assembly. In some arrangements, the plurality of port assemblies may be aligned around a linear or curvilinear axis and each pair of adjacent port assemblies of the plurality of port assemblies may be spaced apart the same fixed distance from each other. In some arrangements, the optical switch further may include a drive mechanism attached to the first connector assembly. The drive mechanism may be configured to apply a force to the first connector assembly to insert the first optical fiber connector into any one of the port assemblies. The drive mechanism may change from a compression state or a tension state to a relaxed state to cause the first optical fiber connector to be inserted into one of the port assemblies. In some arrangements, the first frame may be attached to the first optical fiber connector. In some other arrangements, the first frame may be attached to each of the plurality of port assemblies. In some arrangements, each one of the plurality of port assemblies may include a port defining an opening. In some such arrangements, each of the openings of the plurality of port assemblies may lie substantially within a first plane such that the first optical fiber connector may be inserted in an orthogonal direction to the first plane. In other such arrangements, the openings of the plurality of port assemblies may be arranged in a circular pattern. In some arrangements, the optical switch further may include a plurality of connector assemblies including the first connector assembly. In such arrangements, each one of the plurality of connector assemblies may be identical to the first connector assembly. Optical fiber connectors of each one of the plurality of connector assemblies may be configured for alignment with and insertion into each one of the port assemblies. In some arrangements, the optical switch may further include an arm that may push or pull a selected optical fiber connector of the optical fiber connectors of the plurality of connector assemblies to insert the selected optical fiber connector into a respective one of the port assemblies aligned with the selected optical fiber connector. In some arrangements, the arm may rotate or revolve about an arm axis. The arm may include a finger that extends towa