New phase and polarization-insensitive receivers for coherent optical fibre communication systems

We propose new phase- and polarisation-insensitive receivers for coherent optical fibre communication systems which have the following characteristic features: (a) insensitivity to LO excess noise in addition to phase- and polarization-insensitivity; (b) absence of optical PLL and polarization control devices; (c) a smaller detector bandwidth requirement than for heterodyne systems; (d) the same source linewidth requirement as for heterodyne systems with non-coherent demodulation; (e) the possibility of a complete optoelectronic integrated circuit (OEIC) version in the future.