Performance analysis of an all-optical wavelength converter based on XPM in semiconductor optical amplifiers

Performance analysis is carried out for an all-optical wavelength converter based on cross-phase modulation in two semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) arranged in a Mach–Zehnder interferometer configuration to evaluate the efficiency of conversion and the signal-to-crosstalk ratio (SCR) at the output of the converter. The results evaluated analytically for input non-return to zero signal at a bit rate of 10 Gb/s show that conversion is possible over a wavelength separation of 2 nm between the pump and the input wavelengths. It is further noticed that SCR of the order of 50 dB or more can be achieved at a bit rate of 10 Gb/s, optical amplifier bandwidth of 10 times bit rate and driving current of 600 mA when the input pump is 60% of saturation intensity. The range of wavelength conversion can further be increased by increasing the driving current.     

All-optical wavelength converter based on fiber cross-phase modulation and fiber Bragg grating

I present new method of phase modulation to amplitude modulation conversion (PM/AM conversion) that utilizes integrating capabilities of fiber Bragg grating (FBG). I found that the wavelength converter based on fiber cross-phase modulation (XPM) and new method of PM/AM conversion have an order of magnitude higher conversion efficiency then the wavelength converter based on sideband filtration method and up to 6 dB higher conversion efficiency then the converter based on the nonlinear optical loop mirror. Numerical analysis and experimental results are provided for bit rates up to 40 Gb/s.     

High-speed optical signal processing using semiconductor optical amplifiers

The authors report on all-optical switching devices based on semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOA) in applications for optical time division multiplexing (OTDM) transmission technology. The report includes a discussion on the basic properties of an SOA, on the nonlinear processes of cross-phase modulation and four-wave mixing in the SOA used for all-optical switching, and on the application of the SOA as demultiplexer, add-drop multiplexer, clock recovery and wavelength converter. The devices considered here operate at data rates in excess of \Gb80, where electrical signal processing is not available today.     

Nonlinear properties of quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifiers at 1.3 μm Invited Paper

The dynamics of nonlinear processes in quantum dot (QD) semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) are investigated. Using small-signal measurements, the suitabilities of cross-gain and cross-phase modulation as well as four wave mixing (FWM) for wavelength conversion are examined. The cross-gain modulation is found to be suitable for wavelength conversion up to a frequency of 40 GHz.     

Experiments on 40 Gb/s Transmission with Wavelength Conversion: Results from the IST ATLAS Project

In this article we report the main experimental results obtained in the framework of the IST ATLAS project regarding the transmission at 40 Gb/s over long terrestrial links, including the frequency conversion of a signal. We report the single-channel 40 Gb/s transmission over a link 500 km long with an amplifier spacing of 100 km, both with G.652 fibers and G.653 fibers by periodically compensating the chromatic dispersion with dispersion-compensating fibers. We report the single-channel transmission at 40 Gb/s, also, after the wavelength conversion of a channel with both PPLN and semiconductor optical amplifier devices. In particular, 500 km distances are obtained with PPLN wavelength conversion and 300 km distances with semiconductor optical amplifiers. Some results have been reported for electronic devices operating at 40 Gb/s.     

Experiments on 40 Gb/s Transmission with Wavelength Conversion: Results from the IST ATLAS Project

In this article we report the main experimental results obtained in the framework of the IST ATLAS project regarding the transmission at 40 Gb/s over long terrestrial links, including the frequency conversion of a signal. We report the single-channel 40 Gb/s transmission over a link 500 km long with an amplifier spacing of 100 km, both with G.652 fibers and G.653 fibers by periodically compensating the chromatic dispersion with dispersion-compensating fibers. We report the single-channel transmission at 40 Gb/s, also, after the wavelength conversion of a channel with both PPLN and semiconductor optical amplifier devices. In particular, 500 km distances are obtained with PPLN wavelength conversion and 300 km distances with semiconductor optical amplifiers. Some results have been reported for electronic devices operating at 40 Gb/s.     

基于半导体光放大器四波混频效应的多种调制格式的波长转换实验

实验报道了利用半导体光放大器(SOA)的四波混频(FWM)效应实现多种码型的波长转换.其中对于非归零(NRZ)信号实现了从单信道到三信道的多波长转换.调制速率从10 Gb/s到40 Gb/s均实现多波长转换.对于归零(RZ)信号分别实现了20 Gb/s和40 Gb/s的RZ格式的波长转换和40 Gb/s的载波抑制归零(CSRZ)格式的波长转换,利用光纤布拉格光栅(FBG)作为带陷滤波器消除共轭光和抽运光之间的串扰.对于非归零差分相移键控(NRZ_DPSK)信号分别实现了20 Gb/s和40 Gb/s的波长转换,利用实验室自制的光纤延时干涉仪进行NRZ-DPSK信号的解调.基于FWM效应的转换光的输出消光比大于7 dB,转换后消光比退化约为3 dB.     

Beyond 90-km Reach of a 16 × 2.5 Gb/s C/L-band Dense Wavelength-Division Multiplexing Metropolitan Network Based on Self-Seeded Reflective Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers

Abstract

This article reports the operation of a cost-effective, colorless, dense wavelength-division multiplexing metropolitan network based on self-seeded reflective semiconductor optical amplifiers. All reflective semiconductor optical amplifiers used in the experiments are packaged in commercial small form-factor pluggable modules. The proposal architecture is simple and symmetric thanks to utilization of two cyclic array waveguide gratings. Downstream link functions in the C-band wavelength range and the upstream link functions in the L-band wavelength range. By using erbium-doped fiber amplifiers to extend the reach, an error-free transmission over 90 km for 16 channels at 2.5 Gb/s was experimentally demonstrated for both directions, and an optical budget over 35 dB was obtained.     

All-optical RZ-OOK to RZ-BPSK conversion with multicasting based on XPM in highly nonlinear fiber

We present a detailed investigation of all-optical RZ-OOK to RZ-BPSK modulation format conversion at 10 Gb/s using cross-phase modulation in a length of highly nonlinear fiber. In particular, we examine the impact of the input RZ-OOK signal characteristics, such as duty cycle, average (peak) power, optical signal to noise ratio, and degradation from residual dispersion and differential group delay on the BER performance of the converted RZ-BPSK signal. We also present results on RZ-OOK to RZ-BPSK modulation format conversion with wavelength multicasting.     

Multi-wavelength conversion at 10 Gb/s using cross-phase modulation in highly nonlinear fiber

In this paper we demonstrate a technique of signal wavelength conversion via cross-phase modulation (XPM)-induced nonlinear coupling among a 10 GHz return-to-zero (RZ) signal and a continuous wave (CW) carrier co-propagating in dispersion-shifted (DS) highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF). The wavelength conversion bandwidth up to ±20 nm was achieved experimentally and potential extension was verified by numerical simulations. The principle can easily be extended to 40 Gb/s and used as polarization insensitive all-optical wavelength converter.     

Study on the dynamic range of input power for wavelength converter based on cross-phase modulation in SOAs

In this paper, the dynamic range of input power for wavelength converter based on cross-phase modulation (XPM) in semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is studied. The dynamic range of input power is associated with the linewidth enhancement factor , which is influenced by optical wavelength and power. Shorter wavelength and larger power can induce smaller and lead to a larger dynamic range, while the gain modulation is more severe. Through dynamically controlling the current of the phase arm of the XPM wavelength converter by the detection of the input signal power level, the dynamic range of input power can be increased from 2 to 17 dB.     

Single to 16-Channel Wavelength Conversion at 10 Gb/s Based on Cross-Gain Modulation of ASE Spectrum in SOA

A simple scheme for single to multi-channel wavelength conversion based on cross-gain modulation of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) spectrum in semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is described. Single to 16-channel wavelength conversion at 10 Gb/s is first demonstrated without any additional probe lights, the modulation information carried by input signal could be converted into arbitrary many channels if only the demultiplexer with enough channels is exploited. Output performance and pattern effects are investigated experimentally.     

Low Power Penalty Operation of a Wide Input Dynamic Range Cross-Phase Modulation Wavelength Converter

We successfully demonstrated low power penalty operation of a cross-phase modulated (XPM) wavelength converter using a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) power equalizer. We also clarified the SOA equalizing level for more adaptive wavelength conversion and achieved a power penalty of less than 1 dB over the wide input dynamic range of 15 dB.     

20-Gb/s and Higher Bit Rate Optical Wavelength Conversion for RZ-DPSK Signal Based on Four-Wave Mixing in Semiconductor Optical Amplifier

Abstract

We investigate 20 Gb/s wavelength conversion for return-to-zero differential phase-shift keying (RZ-DPSK) signal using four-wave mixing (FWM) in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). We show that the 10-Gb/s RZ-DPSK signal-to-pump ratio increases up to ?0.286 dB with Q factor improvement of 1.663 dB for increasing the cascadeability of optical networks. The effect of variation in bandwidth for an ideal dual-arm Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) is illustrated. For different bit rates, the converted power signal is investigated with increase in signal input power. We show that the quality of converted signal is best before the saturation of SOA. The dependence of four-wave mixing (FWM) efficiency and converted signal power with signal input power is also studied, and it is found that FWM efficiency decreases with increase in signal input power.

The impact of signal-to–pump power ratio, unsaturated amplifier gain, and pump power is further optimized with minimum Q factor penalty for 10-Gb/s and 20-Gb/s bit rate. We show that converted signal power increases up to power saturation level and then starts decreasing. We also show that with higher bit rate, we have a wide range of choices for pump power signal. We further investigate the quality of converted signal at 10 Gb/s, which shows an improvement over signal input power. Finally, the increase in transmission distance after wavelength conversion is investigated.     

10 Gb/s Reconfigurable Optical Logic Gate Using a Single Hybrid-Integrated SOA-MZI

Abstract

A novel reconfigurable Boolean device based on a single Mach-Zehnder interferometer with semiconductor optical amplifiers is demonstrated at 10 Gb/s using intensity return-to-zero modulated signals. The experimental results show that the device can be dynamically reconfigured to operate as a logic XOR, AND, OR, and NOT gate using optical switches. By properly adjusting the input powers, an extinction ratio higher than 10 dB may be obtained. The potential of integration of this architecture makes it an interesting approach in photonic computing and optical signal processing.     

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).     

All-optical simultaneous drop and wavelength conversion of DPSK data

We demonstrate an all-optical scheme for the simultaneous drop and wavelength conversion of bursts of data from a continuous stream of differential phase-shift keyed (DPSK) signals. This function is obtained in a single semiconductor optical amplifier Mach-Zehnder interferometer thanks to proper nonlinear interaction of the data stream and an optical gate signal at different wavelength. Fast switching-time enabling wavelength shifting operation on continuous DPSK data stream at 10 and 40 Gb/s without any bit loss is reported. Corresponding measured power penalties are negligible at 10 Gb/s and about 1.7 dB at 40 Gb/s.     

Theoretical Study of SOA-Based Wavelength Conversion with NRZ and RZ Format at 40 Gb/s

We theoretically discuss 40 Gb/s semiconductor optical amplifier （SOA）-based wavelength conversion （WC） using a detuning optical bandpass Jilter based on ultrafast dynamic characteristics of SOA. Both the inverted and noninverted WCs are obtained by shifting the filter central wavelength with respect to the probe wavelength when input data signal is in return-to-zero （RZ） format. However, we can obtain format conversion from nonreturn- to-zero （NRZ） to pseudo-return-to-zero （PRZ） and inverted WC when the input signal is in NRZ format.     

Wavelength conversion in optical transport networks

The introduction of optical technology in the path layer of a transport network is analyzed; in particular, the impact of all-optical wavelength conversion is examined. Two basic optical cross-connect schemes based on space switching and on wave-length switching, respectively, and two types of wavelength converters are considered. The wavelength converters are, respectively, based on four-wave miring (FWM) in semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) and on cross-phase modulation (XPM) obtained by two SOAs put in an interferometric configuration. An analysis of transmission performances of optical transport networks employing both types of wavelength conversion and both the node architectures is reported. The performances are evaluated by means of a system modeling that facilitates considering physical phenomena occurring during transmission and all the important transmission impairments. The analysis reveals that both the types of converters can be employed with different features and limitations, according to the considered network and switching architecture.     

All optical logic NAND gate based on two-photon absorption in semiconductor optical amplifiers

We propose a new scheme to realize all optical logic NAND operating at high speeds up to 250 Gb/s utilizing the ultrafast phase response during two-photon absorption (TPA) process in semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOA). NAND gate is important because other Boolean logic elements and circuits can be realized using NAND gates as basic building blocks. Rate equations for semiconductor optical amplifiers (for input data signals with high intensity) configured in the form of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer have been solved. The input intensities are high enough so that the two-photon induced phase change is larger than the regular gain induced phase change. The performance of this scheme is analyzed by calculating the quality factor of the resulting data streams. The results show that both AND and NAND operations at 250 Gb/s with good signal to noise ratio are feasible.