Abstract:
An optical heterodyne device includes an optical meta-material exhibiting non-linear behavior. The optical meta-material mixes an input signal and a local signal to produce a heterodyne signal.
Abstract:
An optical heterodyne device includes an optical meta-material exhibiting non-linear behavior. The optical meta-material mixes an input signal and a local signal to produce a heterodyne signal.
Abstract:
An optical phase locked loop (1), comprising an optical phase detector (2) receiving as inputs an optical signal to be locked (symbol I) and a locked optical signal (symbol II) and providing as its output an electrical error signal (VPD) indicating the phase shift existing between the optical signal to be locked (symbol I) and the locked optical signal (symbol II); an electrical loop filter (3) receiving the electrical error signal (VPD) and outputting a filtered electrical error signal (VPDF), and an optical voltage controlled oscillator (4) receiving as an input the filtered electrical error signal (VPDF) and outputting the locked optical signal (symbol II). The optical voltage controlled oscillator (4) comprises an electrical voltage controlled oscillator (8) receiving as an input the filtered electrical error signal (VPDF) and outputting a modulating electrical signal (VEVCO), an external-cavity semiconductor laser source (9) providing an optical carrier (SOC), and a Mach-Zehnder optical amplitude modulator (10) receiving as an input the optical carrier (SOC) and the modulating electrical signal (VEVCO) and outputting the locked optical signal (symbol II), which is obtained by amplitude modulating the optical carrier (SOC) with the modulating electrical signal (VEVCO).
Abstract:
A transmitter subsystem generates an optical signal which contains multiple subbands of information. The subbands have different polarizations. For example, in one approach, two or more optical transmitters generate optical signals which have different polarizations. An optical combiner optically combines the optical signals into a composite optical signal for transmission across an optical fiber. In another aspect, each optical transmitter generates an optical signal containing both a lower optical sideband and an upper optical sideband (i.e., a double sideband optical signal). An optical filter selects the upper optical sideband of one optical signal and the lower optical sideband of another optical signal to produce a composite optical signal.
Abstract:
Free-space optical transmission of analog information is facilitated by transmitting constant-amplitude pilot information with the other information. The amount of attenuation of the pilot information at the receiver is detected and used to control the amount by which received information is amplified. In this way the deleterious effects of free-space optical attenuation are substantially eliminated. The pilot information may be transmitted either via its own separate light frequency or wavelength, or as a distinguishable part of a larger quantity of information that is used to modulate one light frequency or wavelength.
Abstract:
An optical communication link having an overall linear transfer characteristic and high dynamic range suitable for transmitting analog signals. The link includes an optical intensity modulator, such as a Mach-Zehnder modulator, biased to a low-bias point to reduce noise, and a detector that performs optical heterodyning to recover a transmitted modulating signal. Heterodyning produces a beat frequency signal and sidebands that contain the same information as the modulating signal, but without second-harmonic distortion components. Use of the low-bias point is known to reduce noise and increase dynamic range, but only at the expense of second-harmonic distortion because the modulator output is a function of the square of the modulating signal. Although second harmonics can be filtered out, the bandwidth of the modulating signal is then limited to less than an octave. In the communication link of the invention, heterodyning produces sidebands that vary with the square root of the modulator transmission characteristic. Therefore, the overall transfer characteristic is substantially linear, second harmonic distortion is eliminated, and the modulating signal can extend over a multi-octave bandwidth.
Abstract:
In an optical heterodyne or homodyne receiver an optical system (140) is used in which the local oscillator beam (L) is combined with the signal beam (S). Simultaneously, these beams are split into orthogonally polarized sub-beams. For this purpose the optical system (140) comprises polarization-sensitive beam-splitting layers (141a and 141b) and neutral beam-splitting layers (142a and 142b) which function as beam-combining elements. In order to align the directions of the exit sub-beams of the signal beam (.sub.11, S.sub.12, S.sub.2, S.sub.22) and the local oscillator beam (L.sub.11, L.sub.12, L.sub.21, L.sub.22), the angles (.alpha., .beta., .gamma., .delta.) enclosed by the beam-splitting faces are chosen to be such that two angles located opposite each other have a combined magnitude of 180.degree.. This is realised by providing the layers (141a, 142b and 141b, 142a) on side faces of one prism (140a, 140b).
Abstract:
A double-stage phase-diversity receiver divides one signal into a plurality of signals. These divided signals are mixed with first-stage local oscillation signals having predetermined phase relations to thereby provide a plurality of electrical baseband signals. These electrical signals are up-converted by using second-stage local oscillation signals having a predetermined phase relation. The up-converted IF signals are added, and are then demodulated by a heterodyne scheme.
Abstract:
An interferometer, such as a fiberoptic Mach-Zehnder type, is equipped at a transmission end of the system with a phase modulator driven by a data-input signal to be transmitted; and at a reception end with another phase modulator driven by a large reference signal. Nonlinear dependence of output intensity on these signals yields an intensity component that is the product of the signals at the modulators; and in turn an electrical output-signal component at frequency equal to the difference between the data- and reference-signal frequencies. A servocontrolled phase bias holds the system near a minimum in overall light level, where nonlinearity is prominent while intensity-related noise is minimized. The reference source and the bias are at the receiver end of the system, providing advantages: (1) the reference signal can be tuned manually or dynamically to optimize reproduction of the input signal, (2) the detector output can be mixed back up to the original data-input frequency using the same reference for mixing up as used optically for mixing down--eliminating frequency error and drift, and excess phase noise; and (3) only the modulators and purely optical elements need operate near the data frequency, which may be very high, while the detector and its amplifier run at the difference frequency.
Abstract:
An optical receiver includes a squeezer for changing the quantum state of a signal lightwave to a squeezed state, a slave laser put in an injection locking state by the signal lightwave outputted from the squeezer, and an optical homodyne detector for carrying out optical homodyne detection for the signal lightwave outputted from the slave laser.