SAN JOSE, Calif., May 4 -- Oplink Communications Inc., designer and manufacturer of optical components and integrated optical subsystems, announced that it has been issued two US patents for its proprietary optical switch and optical interleaver.
    Patent number 6,215,919, "Mechanical Optical Switching Device," and patent number 6,215,923, "Optical Interleaver," were issued to Oplink by the US Patent and Trademark Office. Oplink has been issued 18 US patents for inventions in the optical industry and has 30 additional patents pending.
    The optical switch patent features a simplified mechanical design that is insensitive to mechanical drifts, and up to 20 times less sensitive than other mirror-based approaches to optical switch design. It is the smallest form factor, and features extremely low insertion loss (0.3dB typical and 0.5 dB max). This nonsticking optical switch design features high stability and reliability.
    The patented a-thermal interleaver design has a more compact package, high stability and low optical insertion loss. This interleaver design is for 10 and 40 Gb/s systems with low chromatic dispersion, which is particularly important at high bit rates. The interleaver is also designed for use with Oplink's 160 channel DWDM open system platform and may be used in next-generation 1.6 terabit networks.