US 2020/0403706 A1 · DENSE WAVELENGTH DIVISION AND MULTIPLEXING SCHEME FOR OPTICAL INTEGRATED CIRCUITS

Abstract

An apparatus and method for generating a dense wavelength division and multiplexing (DWDM) optical stream in a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) is disclosed. An optical input source including a number (N) of optical channels (wavelengths) may be separated (de-interleaved) into multiple optical streams, each including a corresponding subset of the optical channels of the optical input source. Each of the multiple split optical streams may be modulated with an associated set of data streams by silicon-based micro-ring modulators to generate a corresponding modulated optical stream. A first pair of the modulated optical streams may be combined (interleaved) to generate a first optical output stream including N/2 modulated optical channels, and a second pair of the modulated optical streams may be combined (interleaved) to generate a second optical output stream including N/2 modulated optical channels. The channel spacing of the first and second optical output streams may be twice the channel spacing of the optical input source.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An optical modulation circuit, comprising:

an input terminal to receive an optical input source including a plurality of optical channels or wavelengths;
a first channel de-interleaver configured to separate the optical input source into first and second optical streams;
a second channel de-interleaver configured to separate the first optical stream into first and second separated optical streams;
a first micro-ring modulation (MRM) array configured to modulate a first set of data streams onto optical channels of the first separated optical stream to generate a first modulated optical stream;
a second MRM array configured to modulate a second set of data streams onto optical channels of the second separated optical stream to generate a second modulated optical stream;
and
a first optical interleaver configured to generate a first optical output stream based on the first and second modulated optical streams.

4 more elements

A photonics integrated circuit, comprising:

an input terminal to receive an optical input source including a plurality of optical channels or wavelengths;
a number of optical modulation circuits coupled to the input terminal;
and
a number of optical detection circuits coupled to the input terminal, wherein each of the optical modulation circuits comprises:
a first channel de-interleaver configured to separate the optical input source into first and second optical streams;
a second channel de-interleaver configured to separate the first optical stream into first and second separated optical streams;
a third channel de-interleaver configured to separate the second optical stream into third and fourth separated optical streams;
a plurality of micro-ring modulation (MRM) arrays each configured to modulate a unique set of data streams onto optical channels of a corresponding one of the separated optical streams to generate a respective one of a first modulated optical stream, a second modulated optical stream, a third modulated optical stream, and a fourth modulated optical stream;
a first optical interleaver configured to generate a first optical output stream based on the first and second modulated optical streams;
and
a second optical interleaver configured to generate a second optical output stream based on the third and fourth modulated optical streams.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Dense wavelength division and multiplexing scheme for optical integrated circuits

Life of this patent

Dense wavelength division and multiplexing scheme for optical integrated circuits

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20