Reducing polarization sensitivity for all-optical wavelength conversion of the optical packets based on FWM in the HNL-DSF using co-polarized pump scheme

Polarization insensitivity is a fundamental requirement for wavelength conversion technique in the future all-optical networks. Our experimental results show that a co-polarization pump configuration based on four-wave mixing in high-nonlinear fiber can reduce largely the polarization sensitivity. We have theoretically investigated those experimental phenomena, and the theoretical analyses are in good agreement with experimental results.     

Analysis of polarization dependence for OTDM demultiplexers based on four-wavelength mixing in semiconductor optical amplifier

In optical time-division multiplexing (OTDM) systems using the four-wave mixing (FWM) in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) for time demultiplexing, the polarization states of control pulse and OTDM data lights are an important factor in the optical time demultiplexing process, which can influence the bit error rate (BER) of OTDM systems. In this paper, we analyze the effect of light polarization states on the FWM of a SOA, and use a simulation approach to study the BER performance of 100 Gbit/s OTDM systems that use the FWM in a SOA for optical time demultiplexing. It reveals that the BER or Q factor of OTDM systems is dependent on the misalignment θ between the polarization states of OTDM data and control lights. With increasing θ, both the optical power of resulting FWM component and the BER performance (or Q factor) of OTDM systems is degraded. For linearly polarized lights, our results show that the increase of BER and the reduction in Q factor are made smoothly when θ changes its value from 0° to 75°, whereas the degradation of BER and Q factor becomes rapid when θ exceeds 75°. Although the best system BER is obtained for θ = 0°, the BER performance can still tolerate some misalignment θ (e.g., up to 20° in our simulation). This is useful for the engineering design and applications of SOA-based optical time demultiplexers.     

Theory of pulse propagation and four-wave mixing in a quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifier

A theory, combining the relations of pulse traveling into quantum dot (QD) semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) with the four-wave mixing (FWM) theory in these SOAs, is developed. Carrier density pulsation (CDP), carrier heating (CH), and spectral hole burning (SHB) contributions on FWM efficiency are discussed. Effect of QD ground state and wetting layer are included. An additional parameter appears in the gain integral relation of QD SOAs. An equation formulating pulses in the QD SOAs is introduced. We have found that FWM in QD SOAs is detuning and is pulse width dependent. For short pulses, CH is dominant at high detunings (10–100 GHz) while at higher detunings (>100 GHz) the SHB is the dominant one. Undesired paunch behavior is shown in QD SOAs then, CDP must be reduced.     

64 GHz optical millimeter-wave generation by octupling 8 GHz local oscillator via a nested LiNbO3 modulator

A novel scheme to generate a 64 GHz optical millimeter (mm)-wave via a nested LiNbO₃ Mach-Zehnder modulator with an 8 GHz local oscillator is proposed and simulated. Since the frequency response of the modulator and the local oscillator frequency are greatly reduced, the bandwidth requirements of the optical and electrical components in the transmitter are significantly decreased. The simulation results show that the generated optical mm-wave signal maintains good performance even after being transmitted over 20 km standard single-mode fiber.     

Microwave photonic filter with multiple taps based on single semiconductor optical amplifier

A novel technique to implement a microwave photonic filter structure with multiple taps and arbitrary frequency response is presented. The proposed filter is based on Four-Wave Mixing (FWM) and Cross-Gain Modulation (XGM) in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). Two-tap notch filter and three-tap bandpass filter with arbitrary bipolar tap generation, high rejection ratio, and widely tunability are successfully demonstrated in the experiment. Extensions to this concept by adding new probe light to provide more taps and improve the bandwidth to high frequency regime are also discussed.     

Photonic generation of 60 GHz-band vector signals for RoF systems based on optical vector signal down-conversion

A novel photonic method of 60 GHz-band vector signal generation for RoF systems based on optical vector signal down-conversion is proposed and experimentally demonstrated in this paper. In the proposed method, the target vector signals are first generated in the optical domain with the help of mature commercial optical devices and then directly distributed to the base stations (BSs) through the fiber link. The generated vector signals can be automatically down-converted to the 60 GHz band in the BSs after O/E conversion, and then directly transmitted to the users without any further processing. With the proposed method, higher spectrum efficiency and system capacity will be obtained compared with the traditional OOK RoF systems while almost no extra system complexity and cost is brought in. According to the characteristics of different types of vector signals, two particular modulation schemes are provided, which are then verified by corresponding simulations and experiments. In the experimental 60 GHz RoF system, the 622 MSym/s 60 GHz-band 8-QAM and 4-QAM signals generated with two different schemes respectively are successfully transmitted over 50 km SMF and 5 m wireless channel without any compensation, and the power penalty are both about 1.7 dB at the BER of 10^− 9.     

60 GHz Radio over Fiber Technology for Wireless Access by employing Narrow-Angle PSK Modulation

This paper investigates two key techniques used in 60 GHz Radio over Fiber (RoF) technology for wireless access, namely, the generation of 60 GHz signals and the distribution of 60 GHz local oscillator (LO). In the proposed model, a 60 GHz PSK signal is generated by a heterodyne of two subcarriers with narrow-angle PSK (NA-PSK) modulation, whose phase shift is equal to one half that of a normal PSK signal. Then we use a 60 GHz mixer to frequency mix two PSK signals in two different bands, 60 GHz and baseband. By doing this, the modulation information can be fully eliminated, resulting in a 60 GHz LO. In the wireless terminal, coherent demodulation is realized by a self-mixing of the transmitted 60 GHz PSK signal and LO. Thus no millimeter-wave (mm-wave) band oscillator is needed in the wireless terminal.     

Notes on use of strict optical orthogonal codes to design unequal channel spacing (UCS) frequency sequences for DWDM systems with reduced FWM crosstalk

A paper [E. Mutafungwa et al., Optics Communications 198 (4) (2001) 339] reported the use of strict optical orthogonal codes (S-OOC’s) to reduce the four-wave mixing (FWM) crosstalk in dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) systems by using our S-OOC based unequal channel spacing (UCS) scheme and our special frequency sequences constructed, without referring to the original work. Some mistakes and inaccuracies are identified in the published paper regarding interpretation of S-OOC and its associated UCS scheme, which can cause the confusion of understanding the key concepts and principle about the S-OOC based UCS scheme. As a result, in this paper we present the necessary corrections and notes which deal with the major expressions and key concepts of both S-OOC’s and our proposed scheme. In doing so, the mapping of a S-OOC sequence to the UCS frequency set is appropriately interpreted, and the characteristics of S-OOC based UCS schemes are described. Moreover, the correct evaluation of optical bandwidths is presented for DWDM systems using S-OOC based UCS schemes, and the comparison of the repeated-codeword assignments with the overlapping-codeword assignments is also carried out. Furthermore, we discuss the effect of fractional-slot occupation for frequency assignments on the bandwidth expansion of UCS-DWDM systems. These in turn can lead to correctly understanding the principles of S-OOC based UCS schemes and applying them to assign the UCS frequencies to DWDM systems for the reduction of FWM crosstalk.     

High-resolution spectroscopy using interleaved 100 GHz optical frequency comb scanned by phase modulator

A high-resolution spectroscopy technique is proposed with an optical phase modulator combined with an interleaved optical frequency comb. The optical phase modulator and a frequency-locked laser light guarantee a spectral resolution less than 1 MHz on an absolute frequency axis. A wide measurement frequency range was realized using a 25 GHz optical frequency comb lying over a 4 THz frequency region. An extraction of single tooth intensity from the comb was realized by a heterodyne technique with a frequency-tunable laser used as a local oscillator. Also, the 25 GHz optical frequency comb was interleaved to generate four 100-GHz combs for removing the crosstalk from the 25 GHz neighboring sidebands in the teeth. This proposed spectroscopy technique was experimentally demonstrated with a resonator of less than 1 MHz linewidth and a H¹³C¹⁴N gas cell. Thus, a measurement frequency range higher than 4 THz (1530 nm-1560 nm) was confirmed with an effective spectral resolution 100 kHz order. In addition, the characteristics of the proposed system were compared with those of the previous system with a single-sideband (SSB) optical modulator.     

Characterization of 60 GHz Multi Quantum well passively mode-locked laser under optical self-injection locking

The quality and pulse compression of the 60 GHz millimeter wave signals generated by 750 μm long InAlGaAs Multi Quantum Well (MQW) passively mode locked laser under free running and optical self-injection locked conditions are experimentally characterized in terms of longitudinal modes under certain bias currents that range from 24 mA to 90 mA. Initially, the MQW laser is characterized in free running condition with no external injection. The measurements reflect that the free spectral range of laser under test is around 61 GHz and exhibit more than 22 lasing modes. The laser is then integrated into low phase noise self-injection locking oscillator by feeding a part of output RF signal back into the laser cavity to enhance passive mode locking. By doing so the microwave line width of our laser is reduced from 900 kHz to 24 kHz with significant increase in output of resultant beat tones which exhibits strong passive mode locking. This is the first time that the free running microwave line width of MQW laser is reduced up to this level. It is evident from our experimental investigation that as we increase the power and phase correlation between different longitudinal modes inside laser cavity through optical self-injection, the strength of the passively mode locked mechanism is significantly increased and the phase noise of radio frequency signal is drastically reduced.     

Optimisation of 40 Gb/s wavelength converters based on four-wave mixing in a semiconductor optical amplifier

The optimum operating powers and wavelengths for a 40 Gb/s wavelength converter based on four-wave mixing in a semiconductor optical amplifier are inferred from experimental results. From these measurements, some general rules of thumb are derived for this kind of devices. Generally, the optimum signal power should be 10 dB lower than the pump power (−16 dB conversion efficiency) whereas the wavelength separation between the signal and the pump carrier should not be lower than about four times the signal bitrate (1.3 nm for 40 Gb/s RZ signals).     

Analysis of format conversion from optical 16QAM to QPSK based on cascaded four-wave mixing in semiconductor optical amplifier

A scheme of format conversion from optical 16-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM) to quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) signal based on cascaded four-wave mixing (FWM) in semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) is proposed. Theoretical analysis and simulations of the format conversion scheme are conducted to validate the feasibility of the proposal. In this proposal, the phase conjugated of 16QAM signal is generated after the first FWM process in an SOA, and then the QPSK signal is converted due to the second non-degenerate FWM (ND-FWM) process in another SOA. The performance and the optimal design of the 10 Gbit/s format conversion system under various key parameters of SOAs are evaluated and discussed. Simulation results present useful to enable interconnection between backbone network and access network.     

A 1 × 2 optical switch using one multimode interference region

A 1 × 2 optical switch using only one multimode interference (MMI) region is designed and demonstrated in GaAs/AlGaAs. This design makes a single MMI region works as MMI coupler using paired interference at “off” state and symmetric interference at “on” state. By injecting a current of 110 mA, the measured on/off ratio and crosstalk are 23 dB and 33 dB, respectively in the demonstrated device with GaAs/GaAlAs.     

Frequency converters based on FWM in traveling-wave optical amplifiers: Theoretical aspects

We summarize the results of a theoretical model, developed to investigate the performance of a frequency converter based on four-wave mixing in a bulk traveling wave amplifier. The theory predicts very high values of conversion efficiency and signal-to-background ratio in the bandwidth of the converted signal. These results, whose experimental confirmation is reported elsewhere, increase the potential of using four-wave mixing in semiconductor amplifiers in actual optical systems.     

Theoretical analysis of pattern effect suppression in semiconductor optical amplifier utilizing optical delay interferometer

The ability of an optical delay interferometer (ODI) to suppress the pattern effect that is inherently present in a straightforward, solitary semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) whose dynamic response is slower than the period of its driving high-speed return-to-zero (RZ) data signal is theoretically investigated. For this purpose an existing comprehensive model that simulates and links the operation of these two elements is methodically applied to their concatenated configuration. In this manner an extensive set of curves is numerically obtained, which allow to analyze and assess the impact of the input pulse energy and width as well as of the SOA carrier lifetime, linewidth enhancement factor and small signal gain on the amplitude modulation of the transmitted sequence at the output of each one of these block units. Their thorough study and interpretation reveals that the employment of the ODI can significantly reduce the value of this quality metric resulting from a single SOA only. The main offered benefit, however, is that any technical restrictions regarding the involved critical parameters can be considerably relaxed while at the same time their useful operational range can be extended. These important findings highlight the necessity of placing this passive device after the SOA and exploiting it in order to effectively alleviate the detrimental pattern-dependent degradation. This fact in conjunction with its overall practicality renders it a promising candidate for enhancing, within the frame of the proposed scheme, the performance of SOAs that are employed as pure amplification elements in fiber-optic communication systems and networking applications.     

Distortions compensation in linear optical links adopting wavelength converters based on FWM in semiconductor amplifiers

Wavelength conversion by four-wave mixing in high-speed, long-distance optical links compensates for fiber dispersion and source chirping. Wavelength converters based on four-wave mixing in semiconductor amplifiers could be key components in wavelength-switched networks. The link performances are estimated by simulation using a physical model of all devices; the bit error rate is evaluated by a semianalytical model.     

A new approach to all-optical half-adder by utilizing semiconductor optical amplifier based MZI wavelength converter

Semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) has already been established itself as a strong all-optical switching element for conducting super fast optical operations. Many all optical logic operations have been proposed by the use of SOA. Here in this paper the authors proposed a new method of implementing all-optical frequency encoded logic operations and half-adder by the use of SOA as well as Mach Zehnder interferometer. The advantage of frequency encoding has been strongly exploited here.     

基于RS码及网格编码调制技术的60 GHz OFDM-RoF系统

分析了60 GHz正交频分复用技术光纤无线通信系统中的子载波互拍及频率选择性衰落.提出利用里德-所罗门码级联网格编码调制技术结合符号交织来降低两者对系统性能的不良影响.采用符号交织来分散正交频分复用中子载波上的误码,然后通过高码率的里德-所罗门码级联实用的网格编码调制技术来纠正比特错误.仿真结果表明:经过符号交织后,误码在子载波上的分布变得较均匀,有利于纠错|2.5 Gb/s正交频分复用信号采用RS-PTCM-64QAM方案比采用未编码的16QAM调制提高了5 dB左右的接收机灵敏度.     

Experimental study of the line mixing coefficient for 118.75 GHz oxygen line

The oxygen fine structure line 1− at 118.75 GHz was studied by two spectrometers at low (0.2-3.5 Torr) and high (atmosphere) pressures in air and pure oxygen. Improvement in the spectrometer with BWO and acoustic detector included use of a powerful (more than 40 mW) radiation source. Improvement in the modern resonator spectrometer included exclusion of apparatus function by sample substitution and a wider (110-130 GHz) scanned frequency range. As a result, the 1− oxygen line was observed by both spectrometers with high (up to 450) signal-to-noise ratio which permitted precise measurements of the line parameters. The investigation separated linear- and quadratic-with-pressure displacement of the line center. The line mixing coefficient responsible for apparent quadratic dependence of the center frequency on pressure was measured experimentally for the first time for this line. The line mixing coefficient was measured at 297 K as −4.62(38)×10⁻⁵ Torr⁻¹ for pure oxygen and −5.9(29)×10⁻⁵ Torr⁻¹ for air, compared to the previously calculated value −3.1×10⁻⁵ Torr⁻¹. Linear dependence of the line center frequency on pressure does not exceed ±20 kHz/Torr for air and ±10 kHz/Torr for pure oxygen. Refined values of line broadening were obtained. Integral intensity of the line was measured. A comparison with the previous investigations is presented. Inconsistencies in published data about pressure line shifts of oxygen molecule spectral lines are discussed.     

Wide-band nulling system for antenna array based on a photonic microwave filter and optical delay lines

A nulling system for phased array antennas with broad bandwidth and reduced complexity is presented. The system is based on combining the output of an optical beamforming network with an optical transversal filter steered in the angle where a null is desired in a configuration that reduces the number of optoelectronic conversion compared to previous proposals. Preliminary experimental results to show the feasibility of the concept are provided between 2 and 6 GHz, showing null depths of 22, 10 and 19 dB at 2, 5 and 6 GHz, respectively.