Optical communication system, optical transmitter, optical receiver and methods, and correlators used therefor

An optical transmitter including an optical correlator, which has been allocated a code word of a complex orthogonal code of code length N represented by any row of an N×N square matrix in which an element of an mth row and nth column is exp[2πj(m−1)(n−1)/N] (where j is an imaginary unit), for optically encoding an optical signal, which is to be transmitted, by this code word, wherein m and n are integer values which are at least 1 and at most N, m designating the mth row and n designating the nth column of the N×N square matrix;

• wherein said optical correlator includes:
• a sampled Bragg grating having a plurality of Bragg gratings disposed serially at regular intervals inside an optical waveguide, reflectivities of these Bragg gratings being adjusted in conformity with amplitude of said allocated code word, and phase differences of light waves reflected by adjacent Bragg gratings being adjusted so as to be equal between all Bragg gratings in conformity with phase differences between adjacent elements of said allocated code word;
• and
• an optical circulator for introducing an input optical signal to said sampled Bragg grating and extracting reflected light waves that are output from said sampled Bragg grating.

An optical receiver including an optical correlator, which has been allocated a code word of a complex orthogonal code of code length N represented by any row of an N×N square matrix in which an element of an mth row and nth column is exp[2πj(m−1)(n−1)/N] (where j is an imaginary unit), for optically decoding a received optical signal by this code word, wherein m and n are integer values which are at least 1 and at most N, m designating the mth row and n designating the nth column of the N×N square matrix;

• wherein said optical correlator includes:
• a sampled Bragg grating having a plurality of Bragg gratings disposed serially at regular intervals inside an optical waveguide, reflectivities of these Bragg gratings being adjusted in conformity with amplitude of said allocated code word, and phase differences of light waves reflected by adjacent Bragg gratings being adjusted so as to be equal between all Bragg gratings in conformity with phase differences between adjacent elements of said allocated code word;
• and
• an optical circulator for introducing an input optical signal to said sampled Bragg grating and extracting reflected light waves that are output from said sampled Bragg grating.

An optical communication method comprising:

• in an optical transmitting side, which is allocated a code word of a complex orthogonal code of code length N represented by any row of an N×N square matrix in which an element of an mth row and nth column is exp[2πj(m−1)(n−1)/N] (where j is an imaginary unit), generating N-number of light waves from a light wave representing an optical signal to be transmitted, optically encoding an optical, which is to be transmitted, so as to produce equal phase differences, which are defined by the allocated code word, between adjacent ones of these N-number of light waves on a time axis, and transmitting the encoded optical signal, wherein m and n are integer values which are at least 1 and at most N, m designating the mth row and n designating the nth column of the N×N square matrix;
• in a receiving side, optically decoding a received optical signal by an allocated code word using an optical correlator, which has been allocated the code word of a complex orthogonal code of code length N represented by any row of an N×N square matrix in which an element of an mth row and nth column is exp[2πj(m−1)(n−1)/N] (where j is an imaginary unit), for outputting an optical signal representing strong autocorrelation in a case where this code word is identical with a code word that was used to encode the received optical signal, and outputting an optical signal representing cross-correlation that is weak in comparison with the autocorrelation output in a case where the code word is different;
• and
• photoelectrically converting an optical correlation signal that is output from said optical correlator to obtain an electrical signal, and reducing multiplexed interference signals in said electrical signal, the multiplexed interference signals having been produced owing to encoding by code words of complex orthogonal codes other than the code word that has been allocated to said optical correlator.

A code changeover method regarding an optical correlator that includes:

• a sampled Bragg grating having a plurality of Bragg gratings disposed serially at regular intervals inside an optical waveguide, reflectivities of these Bragg gratings being adjusted in conformity with amplitude of one code word of a complex orthogonal code of code length N in which each row of an N×N square matrix in which an element of an mth row and nth column is exp[2πj(m−1)(n−1)/N] (where j is an imaginary unit) is adopted as a code word, and phase differences of light waves reflected by adjacent Bragg gratings being adjusted so as to be equal between all Bragg gratings in conformity with phase differences between adjacent elements of one code word of said complex orthogonal codes, wherein m and n are integer values which are at least 1 and at most N, m designating the mth row and n designating the nth column of the N×N square matrix;
• and
• a mechanism for introducing an input optical signal to said sampled Bragg grating by an optical circulator and extracting reflected light waves, which are output from said sampled Bragg grating, by said optical circulator;
• the method comprising applying a physical quantity to the entirety of the optical waveguide of said sampled Bragg grating, thereby changing equally the phase differences or Bragg reflection wavelengths of light waves reflected by adjacent Bragg gratings, and holding these at mutually equal desired values, thereby changing over the one code word of said complex orthogonal code to another code word obtained from a different row of the same square matrix in said optical correlator.