Patent ID: 6141129
Filing Date: 2000-10-31
Classification: H04B

Abstract:
An all-optical signal regenerator utilized for regeneration of a return-to-zero digital data stream transported over a transmission medium, said data stream encompassing a plurality of input signal pulses, each of said plurality of input signal pulses having an input signal pulse intensity (I.sub.p), said data stream having an input signal data carrier center frequency (.omega..sub.0) and an input signal data carrier bandwidth (.DELTA..omega..sub.0), said regenerator comprising:a nonlinear medium (NLM) having a NLM inlet and a NLM outlet, said NLM inlet operable to accept said data stream from said transmission medium, said NLM utilizing the effect of self-phase modulation (SPM) to induce a signal spectral bandwidth broadening in said plurality of input signal pulses; andan optical regenerator bandpass filter (ORBPF) having an ORBPF inlet and an ORBPF outlet, said ORBPF inlet coupled with said NLM outlet, said ORBPF having an ORBPF center frequency (.omega..sub.f) and an ORBPF bandwidth (.DELTA..omega..sub.f), said .DELTA..omega..sub.f selected to pass frequencies other than said .omega..sub.0,wherein said ORBPF outlet provides a ""set"" value for each pulse of said plurality of input signal pulses for which said I.sub.p is greater than a critical pulse intensity (I.sub.CR) and said ORBPF outlet provides a ""null"" value for each pulse of said plurality of input signal pulses for which said I.sub.p is less than said I.sub.CR.