Patent ID: 6160656
Filing Date: 2000-12-12
Classification: G02B,G06K,H04B,H04J

Abstract:
A system for determining if an optical waveform is encoded with a particular temporal pattern, the system comprising:a light diffracting means that is programmed according to a particular function;a first means for causing the optical waveform to be incident on the light diffracting means, whereby light emitted by the light diffracting means represents a cross correlation of the temporal pattern and the particular function;a second means for focusing the light emitted by the light diffracting means to a particular point;a nonlinear optical device positioned at the particular point, the nonlinear optical device producing an electronic signal possessing an amplitude that varies nonlinearly in response to an energy content of the emitted light and which varies slowly compared to an instantaneous optical power of the emitted light; andan electronic thresholding device operative to generate an output electronic signal in response to electrical signals produced by the nonlinear optical device that exceed a certain preset threshold.