{
  "patent_number": "US 11646794",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "Routing Light Between Fiber Cores Using Special Reflectors",
  "original_title": "Fiber optic connectors and connectorized fiber optic cables that include integrated photonic optical mode field converters and related methods",
  "summary": "This patent describes a fiber optic connector that uses tiny, specially designed reflectors called holographic Bragg gratings to precisely guide light signals from one optical fiber to multiple other fibers, even separating different colors (wavelengths) of light.",
  "what_it_does": "The patent describes an optical device that connects optical fibers using a pair of substrates (Claim 1). Each substrate has an alignment feature, like a groove (Claim 7), to hold an optical fiber. A key component is a holographic Bragg grating reflector on each substrate face (Claim 1). These gratings work together to direct light. For example, light from a first fiber's core travels through the second grating, then the first grating, to reach a specific core in a second fiber (Claim 1). This setup can also route different wavelengths (colors) of light from a single input fiber to different output fiber cores (Claim 4).",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Optical connectors that do not use holographic Bragg grating reflectors.",
    "Systems that route light without involving two distinct substrates each bearing a grating as described in Claim 1.",
    "Connectors that rely solely on direct physical contact or simple lenses for light coupling, without the described grating-based optical path.",
    "Optical devices that do not separate or combine optical signals based on wavelength, as described in Claims 4 and 5.",
    "Optical devices where the holographic Bragg grating is not positioned as described, such as lateral to alignment features with additional reflectors as in Claim 11."
  ],
  "filed": "2021-09-14",
  "granted": "2023-05-09",
  "expires": "2041-09-14",
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Commscope Inc of North Carolina",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/commscope-inc-of-north-carolina",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Abhijit Sengupta",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/abhijit-sengupta"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 1,
  "tags": [
    "telecommunications",
    "semiconductors",
    "consumer_electronics"
  ],
  "abstract": "Fiber optic connectors are provided that include a substrate having a groove therein, an optical fiber that is at least partly in the groove, an optical mode field converter or other focusing reflector that is positioned to receive an optical signal that is output from the optical fiber and a housing that surrounds the substrate and the optical fiber.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11646794/fiber-optic-connectors-and-connectorized-fiber-optic-cables-that-include-integra",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11646794/fiber-optic-connectors-and-connectorized-fiber-optic-cables-that-include-integra/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US11646794",
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}