Photonic A/D converter using parallel synchronous quantization of optical signals

An N-bit photonic analog to digital converter comprising:

• a plurality of optical signal channels where the number of channels is equal to N, each of said channels comprising at least one photodetector element that produces an output proportional to the amplitude of optical signal that impinges on the photodetector, said output from respective optical channels driving one of an array of means for binary switching, where one switching means is provided for each of the N optical channels, said switching means each having a binary output state, said binary switching means outputs collectively representing the N-bit output of the analog to digital conversion of the optical signal input.

An N-bit photonic analog to digital converter constructed in a monolithically integrated optoelectronic integrated circuit, comprising:

• a plurality of optical signal channels where the number of channels is equal to N, each of said channels comprising at least one photodetector element that produces an output proportional to the amplitude of optical signal that impinges on the photodetector, said output from respective optical channels driving one of an array of high speed transistor differential pair comparators, where one comparator is provided for each of the N optical channels, said comparators each having a binary output state, said binary comparator outputs collectively representing the N-bit output of the analog to digital conversion of the optical signal input.

An N-bit photonic analog to digital converter constructed in a monolithically integrated optoelectronic integrated circuit, comprising:

• a plurality of optical signal channels where the number of channels is equal to N, each of said channels comprising at least one photodetector element that produces an output proportional to the amplitude of optical signal that impinges on the photodetector, said output from respective optical channels driving one of an array of means for binary switching, where one switching means is provided for each of the N optical channels, said switching means each having a binary output state, said binary switching means outputs collectively representing the N-bit output of the analog to digital conversion of the optical signal input.

An N-bit photonic analog to digital converter device comprising:

• a substrate comprising N optical waveguides, each of said waveguides further comprising at least one photodetector for converting input light amplitude into an electronic output, said waveguide and photodetector combinations comprising N optoelectronic channels arranged from a most significant bit channel NN−1 to a least significant bit channel N0;
• N differential pair comparators, one comparator connected to each optoelectronic channel output, each of said comparators having binary output states, each of said comparators having an input threshold calibrated to produce a digital high output at a predetermined signal input level, wherein each of said comparators provides a single bit of an N-bit digital representation of the input optical signal amplitude.

An N-bit photonic analog to digital converter device comprising:

• a substrate comprising N optical waveguides, each of said waveguides further comprising at least one photodetector for converting input light amplitude into an electronic output, said waveguide and photodetector combinations comprising N optoelectronic channels arranged from a most significant bit channel NN−1 to a least significant bit channel N0;
• N means for binary switching, one switching means connected to each optoelectronic channel output, each of said switching means having binary output states, each of said switching means having an input threshold calibrated to produce a digital high output at a predetermined signal input level, wherein each of said switching means provides a single bit of an N-bit digital representation of the input optical signal amplitude.