US 11,855,690 B2
Sloping single point optical aggregation
Winston Allen Saunders, Seattle, WA (US); Christian L. Belady, Mercer Island, WA (US); Lisa Ru-Feng Hsu, Redmond, WA (US); Hitesh Ballani, Redmond, WA (US); Paolo Costa, Redmond, WA (US); and Douglas Carmean, Redmond, WA (US)
Assigned to Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
Filed by Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA (US)
Filed on Nov. 29, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/536,405.
Application 17/536,405 is a continuation of application No. 16/917,829, filed on Jun. 30, 2020, granted, now 11,476,934.
Prior Publication US 2022/0368420 A1, Nov. 17, 2022
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. H04B 10/112 (2013.01); H04B 10/40 (2013.01); H04B 10/516 (2013.01); H04B 10/66 (2013.01)
CPC H04B 10/1123 (2013.01) [H04B 10/40 (2013.01); H04B 10/516 (2013.01); H04B 10/66 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system for using free-space optics to interconnect computing nodes, comprising:
an enclosure including a plurality of openings, the plurality of openings being configured to receive a plurality of computing devices;
a first computing device including a first computing node and a first optical module coupled to the first computing node, the first computing device being placed within a first opening of the plurality of openings, wherein placing the first computing device within the first opening causes the first optical module to have lines of sight with each optical transceiver from a first set of optical transceivers on a router; and
a second computing device including a second computing node and a second optical module coupled to the second computing node, the second computing device being placed within a second opening of the plurality of openings, wherein placing the second computing device within the second opening causes the second optical module to have additional lines of sight with each of the optical transceivers from the first set of optical transceivers on the router.
 
13. A method for establishing a free-space optics communication environment, the method comprising:
obtaining an enclosure including a plurality of openings, the plurality of openings being sized and configured to receive a plurality of computing devices;
placing a first computing device within a first opening of the enclosure, wherein the first computing device includes a first computing node and a first optical module coupled to the first computing node, wherein placing the first computing device within the first opening causes the first optical module to have a-lines of sight with each optical transceiver from a first set of optical transceivers on a router; and
placing a second computing device within a second opening of the enclosure, wherein the second computing device includes a second computing node and a second optical module coupled to the second computing node, wherein placing the second computing device within the second opening causes the second optical module to have additional lines of sight with each of the optical transceivers from the first set of optical transceivers on the router.