Invalidity dossier
US 9698939
Variable spectral efficiency optical modulation schemes
Current assignee: Ciena Corp
Added 9/17/2026, 2:46:19 PM
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Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview: US 9,698,939 B2
Title: Variable spectral efficiency optical modulation schemes
Patent number: US 9,698,939 B2
Application number: US 13/917,339
Inventors: Shahab Oveis Gharan; Kim B. Roberts; Akbar Ghasemi; Mahmoud Taherzadehboroujeni
Assignee: Ciena Corporation (original and current assignee)
Key dates: Priority/filing date 2013-06-13; publication of US 2014/0369680 A1 on 2014-12-18; granted 2017-07-04; adjusted expiration listed as 2033-11-12.
Purpose: The patent addresses limitations of fixed encoding schemes in optical communications. As described, schemes such as DP-BPSK, DP-QPSK, and 16-QAM each trade spectral efficiency against system margin (and thus signal reach). A network provider must currently pick one scheme, which can yield sub-optimal network utilization and only large, step-wise changes in margin and spectral efficiency.
Plain-language scope: The disclosed approach transmits a data signal using an optical transmitter. An N/M mapping encoder processes an N-bit input vector according to a first mapping to produce an M-bit data stream. An inner encoder then processes that M-bit stream per a predetermined encoding scheme to generate an encoded symbol stream. A modulator modulates carrier light according to the encoded symbol stream for transmission. The first mapping can be adjusted to maximize performance of the optical communications system, enabling variable spectral efficiency. The description discusses related issues including 8B/10B coding, block shaping/shell codes, PAM, error multiplication, forward error correction, trellis coding, and SISO decoding. Figures include DP-BPSK and DP-QPSK constellations, a system block diagram, transmitter elements, mapping and reverse-mapping flow-charts, a margin-vs-bits-per-baud chart, and a tree code diagram.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US9698939/en
What the excerpt does not establish: It does not provide the full claims, complete specification text (the passage is explicitly marked as an excerpt with omitted text), detailed embodiments, prosecution history, or the exact relationship to later related applications (e.g., US 15/616,997; US 16/595,709; US 16/944,254), whose mere priority links are noted. It also does not establish the "variable" mechanism's precise implementation details beyond the summary above.
Generated 10/1/2026, 10:03:03 PM
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Prior art
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