Reconfigurable WDM Optical Receiver

Optical communication systems deal with high-speed, high-capacity data transmission. However, significant challenges that arise with the processing of diverse modulation formats and different types of signals can result in a loss of efficiency, functionality, and flexibility. Current approaches often struggle with excess losses and lack of simultaneous multitasking capability, such as demultiplexing and demodulation. Also, many systems lack the ability to easily accommodate different combinations of wavelengths and modulation formats, resulting in a lack of scalability and format adaptability. These issues limit the effectiveness and expandability of current optical communication systems.

Technology Description

This technology centers around an optical receiver composed of a sequence of optical filtering elements. These filters select spectral components from incoming optical signals at wavelengths aligned to their respective filter passbands. This filtering mechanism is designed to subsequently combine selected spectral components into several pairs of intermediary signals, where the number of pairs equals log2(M). From these pairs, a digital representation of the original signal is generated. The ingenuity of this optical receiver lies in its configuring of the filtering elements to accomplish demultiplexing and demodulation concurrently, thereby enhancing functionality while lessening unnecessary losses. The receiver's versatility is further displayed in its ability to be retuned to accommodate a varying range of combinations of wavelengths and modulation formats including wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM), on-off keying (OOK), M-ary orthogonal formats like frequency shift keying (FSK) and pulse position modulation (PPM), differential phase shift keying, and other hybrid combinations. The system achieves noteworthy rate and format flexibility, and WDM scalability.