Optical time-delayed wavelength converter

An optical time-delayed wavelength converter for adjusting a wavelength of an optical pulsed signal, the converter comprising:

• a photodetector for detecting and converting an input pulsed signal to an electrical signal, the input pulsed signal containing information encoded therein and having an input wavelength;
• an output wavelength determining module for determining the output wavelength from the electrical signal;
• a closed-loop optical regenerative cavity for receiving the input pulsed signal, the cavity comprising at least a first optical regenerator for receiving the input pulse signal and a second optical regenerator optically connected together in a closed-loop configuration, the first and second optical regenerators each being one of an optical 2R-regenerator and an optical 3R-regenerator, the cavity being adapted to convert the input pulsed signal at the input wavelength to a buffer pulsed signal at an adjustable wavelength, and propagate and output the buffer pulsed signal therein as a function of the adjustable wavelength, the buffer pulsed signal containing the information encoded in the input pulsed signal;
• and
• a wavelength controller for controlling the adjustable wavelength of the buffer pulsed signal, the wavelength controller being adapted to set the adjustable wavelength to a buffer wavelength different from the output wavelength in order to propagate the buffer pulsed signal at the buffer wavelength within the cavity, and to the output wavelength upon reception of the output wavelength from the output wavelength determining module in order to output the buffer pulsed signal at the output wavelength from the cavity.