METHOD AND DEVICE FOR OPTICALLY CROSSCONNECTING OPTICAL SIGNALS USING TILTING MIRROR MEMS WITH DRIFT MONITORING FEATURE

摘要

A device and method for detecting rotational drift of mirror elements in aMEMS tilt mirror array used in an optical crossconnect. The opticalcrossconnectdirects optical signals from an input fiber to an output fiber along anoptical path byrotatably positioning mirror elements in desired positions. A monitoringdevice disposedoutside of the optical path is used to obtain images of the MEMS array or totransmit andreceive a test signal through the crossconnect for detecting the presence ofmirrorelement drift.