640 Gbit/s and 1.28 Tbit/s polarisation insensitive all optical wavelength conversion

We report the first demonstration of polarisation insensitive alloptical wavelength conversion (AOWC) for single wavelength channel 640 Gbit/s return-to-zero differential-phase-shift-keying (RZ-DPSK) signal and 1.28 Tbit/s polarisation multiplexed (Pol-Mux) RZ-DPSK signals using a 100-m polarisation-maintaining highly nonlinear fiber (PM-HNLF) in a polarisation diversity loop configuration. The AOWC is based on four-wave mixing in PM-HNLF. Error free performance is achieved for the wavelength converted signals. Less than 0.5 dB polarisation sensitivity is obtained.</p

Comparison of delay-interferometer and time-lens-based all-optical OFDM demultiplexers

In this paper we present the first detailed numerical comparison of two promising all-optical schemes to demultiplex orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) signals. The investigated schemes are the optical discrete Fourier transformation (O-DFT) and the optical spectral magnification (SM) based on time lenses. In the former scheme, cascaded delay-interferometers (DIs) are used to perform the O-DFT, with subsequent active optical gating to remove the intercarrier interference (ICI). Here a reduced-complexity partial O-DFT, realized by replacing a number of DIs with optical bandpass filters, is investigated. In the latter scheme the OFDM spectrum is magnified, allowing for simple optical bandpass filtering of the individual subcarriers with reduced ICI. Ideally only a single unit consisting of two time lenses is needed, reducing the complexity and potentially the energy consumption compared to the type of O-DFT scheme relying on many active gates. The bit-error-rate is estimated down to ∼10-6 by Monte Carlo bit-error counting for a 32-subcarrier OFDM input signal, showing that a performance close to the ideal O-DFT is achievable for both the reduced-complexity O-DFT and the SM scheme.</p

Demonstration of 5.1 Tbit/s data capacity on a single-wavelength channel

We have generated a single-wavelength data signal with a data capacity of 5.1 Tbit/s. The enabling techniques to generate the data signal are optical time-division multiplexing up to a symbol rate of 1.28 Tbaud, differential quadrature phase shift keying as data format, and polarisation-multiplexing. For the first time, error-free performance with a bit error rate less than 10-9 is demonstrated for the 5.1 Tbit/s data signal. This is achieved in a back-to-back configuration using a direct detection receiver based on polarisation- and time-demultiplexing, delay-demodulation and balanced photo-detection.</p

Reduced timing Sensitivity in all-optical switching using flat-top control pulses obtained by the optical fourier transform technique

For high-speed serial data, timing tolerance is crucial for switching and regeneration. We propose a novel scheme to generate flat-top pulses, for use as gating control pulses. The scheme relies on spectral shaping by a square-shaped filter, followed by a linear transformation of the spectral shape into the time domain, referred to as the optical Fourier transform technique. A 3 ps flat-top pulse derived from a 3 nm wide square filter is obtained, and used to gate an all-optical OTDM demultiplexer, yielding an error-free timing jitter tolerance of 3 ps for 80 Gb/s and 160 Gb/s data signals.</p