US 7,577,369 B1Granted

Systems for deploying an optical network

AssigneeAvanex Corporation

InventorsGiovanni Barbarossa, Roger A. Hajjar

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Abstract

A transmitter on an integrated circuit chip is disclosed that employs a laser, modulator, and a dispersion compensator module and a modulator for overcoming chromatic dispersion and polarization dependent loss effects. With the present invention, the dispersion compensator module is placed on a chip, either integrated or monolithic, for operation with a laser and a modulator without the need to compensate for dispersion within a separate unit that is not part of the chip. The dispersion compensator module can be implemented, for example, with a ring resonator, an etalon or a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. In a first aspect of the invention, the optical transmitter module of the present invention provides a cost-effective solution for upgrading from an existing optical network to a faster optical network, such as upgrading from a 2.5 Gbps to a 10 Gbps network. In a second aspect of the invention, the optical transmitter module of the present invention provides a means to deploy an optical network at the transmission rate of 10 Gbps, 40 Gbps and faster.

Claims12

Dependent claims

A system, comprising:

a laser for generating a single polarized light of wavelength λ to an output;
a modulator having an input and an output, the input of the modulator coupled to the output of the laser for receiving the single polarized light through a first planar waveguide portion between the laser and the modulator, the modulator superimposing information bandwidth Δλ upon the single polarized light thereby producing at the output of the modulator a resulting optical signal having a range of wavelengths λ+/−Δλ;
and
a dispersion compensating module having an input and an output, the input of the dispersion compensating module coupled to the output of the modulator for receiving the resulting optical signal through a second planar waveguide portion between the modulator and the dispersion compensating module, the dispersion compensator module generating a single polarized output light signal, wherein the laser, the first planar waveguide portion, the modulator, the second planar waveguide portion and the dispersion compensating module are integrated on a chip, wherein the single polarized output light signal has a polarization condition that is substantially the same as the single polarized light generated by the laser.

1 more element

A system, comprising:

first and second transmitters, the first transmitter transmitting a first wavelength λ1, the second transmitter transmitting a second wavelength λ2, wherein components of the first transmitter are integrated on a first chip and components of the second transmitter are integrated on a second chip;
an optical multiplexer having inputs coupled to the first and second transmitters for delivering a wavelength division multiplexed composite optical signal to a span of optical fiber;
an optical demultiplexer;
and
first and second optical receivers, the optical demultiplexer coupled to the span of optical fiber for separating wavelength channels such that each channel is directed to a respective receiver in the first and second optical receivers;
wherein the first transmitter comprises:
a first laser disposed on the first chip for generating a single polarized light of the wavelength λ1 to an output;
a first modulator having an input and an output disposed on the first chip, the input of the modulator coupled to the output of the first laser for receiving the single polarized light through a first planar waveguide portion formed on the first chip between the first laser and the first modulator, the first modulator superimposing information bandwidth Δλ1 upon the single polarized light such thereby producing at the output of the first modulator a resulting optical signal having a range of wavelengths λ1+/−Δλ1;
and
a first dispersion compensating module having an input and an output disposed on the first chip, the input of the first dispersion compensating module coupled to the output of the first modulator for receiving the resulting optical signal through a second planar waveguide portion formed on the first chip between the modulator and the dispersion compensating module, the first dispersion compensator module generating a first single polarized output light signal that has a polarization condition which is substantially the same as the single polarized light generated by the first laser.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.