Patent ID: 6014237
Filing Date: 2000-01-11
Classification: H01S,H04J,H04Q

Abstract:
A wavelength ordered repetitive periodic dense wavelength division multiplexed (WORP-DWDM) optical source, comprising:a multiwavelength mode-locked (MWML) laser source including a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) disposed in a cavity of said MWML laser source, said SOA being actively driven by a radio frequency (RF) signal and emitting periodic pulses within a plurality of discrete wavelength bands simultaneously at a port of said MWML laser source, where the RF signal oscillates at a frequency whereby one of said frequency and a sub-harmonic of said frequency substantially equals the inverse of the round trip travel time of pulses circulating within a cavity of said MWML laser source; anda temporal dispersion element which time shifts said plurality of wavelengths by differential wavelength-dependent delays so as to transform pulses emitted by said MWML laser source into a wavelength ordered repetitive periodic (WORP) sequence of optical pulses.