Apparatus for generating light pulse train
AssigneeHitachi, Ltd.
InventorYasuzi Suzaki
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The ends of a length of optical fiber are coupled to each other to form a closed loop so that light wave may propagate freely through the looped optical fiber. At one or more portions of the looped path of light are provided the sections through which the loop is optically coupled to external equipments. A light pulse is injected through the sections into the loop fiber and a part of it is taken out through the sections each time it completes a cycle of travel through the loop fiber, so that a light pulse train with pulses equidistantly appearing on the time base can be obtained.
Claims49
An apparatus for generating a train of light pulses comprising:
- an optical fiber loop, said optical fiber loop including at least one optical fiber having respective ends optically coupled with each other to form a closed loop, and
- optical coupling means arranged in at least one portion of said optical fiber loop for introducing a single light pulse into said optical fiber loop, said optical coupling means further transferring at least a portion of said light pulse from said optical fiber loop each time said light pulse circulates once through said optical fiber loop, such that a train of light pulses being equidistantly spaced in time is generated.
An apparatus for generating a train of light pulses comprising:
- an optical fiber loop, said optical fiber loop including at least one optical fiber having respective ends optically coupled with each other to form a closed loop, and
- optical coupling means arranged in at least one portion of said optical fiber loop for introducing a single light pulse into said optical fiber loop, said optical coupling means further transferring at least a portion of said light pulse from said optical fiber loop each time said light pulse circulates once through said optical fiber loop such that a train of light pulses being equidistantly spaced in time is generated,
- wherein said optical coupling means introduces said single light pulse into said optical fiber loop from an input optical fiber, and wherein said optical coupling means transfers said portion of said light pulse from said optical fiber loop into an output optical fiber,
- wherein said optical coupling means includes a first optical fiber having its ends respectively optically coupled to said input optical fiber and said output optical fiber, and a second optical fiber forming a part of said optical fiber loop, said first and second optical fibers being partially in surface contact with each other, and
- wherein said first and second optical fibers are in surface contact along at least a portion of the longitudinal length of said first and second optical fibers.
An apparatus for generating a train of light pulses comprising:
- an optical fiber loop, said optical fiber loop including at least one optical fiber having respective ends optically coupled with each other to form a closed loop,
- optical coupling means arranged in at least one portion of said optical fiber loop for introducing a single light pulse into said optical fiber loop, said optical coupling means further transferring at least a portion of said light pulse from said optical fiber loop each time said light pulse circulates once through said optical fiber loop, such that a train of light pulses being equidistantly spaced in time is generated, and
- optical amplifying means inserted in said optical fiber loop for amplifying said light pulse circulating in said optical fiber loop, such that said train of light pulses has a constant amplitude.
A method for generating a train of light pulses comprising:
- coupling an input light pulse into an optical fiber loop,
- circulating said light pulse through said optical fiber loop, and
- extracting a portion of said light pulse from said optical fiber loop each time said light pulse circulates onece through said optical fiber loop, thereby generating a train of output light pulses which are equidistantly spaced in time.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.