Patent ID: 6028687
Filing Date: 2000-02-22
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A laser arrangement for recovering a clock from a modulated optical input signal, the input signal being clocked by said clock on an optical input carrier wavelength, comprising:an optical resonator having a bidirectional optical transmission channel that has a predetermined optical length and that extends between two resonator mirrors;at least first and second nonlinear optical amplifiers arranged in the transmission channel between the resonator mirrors;an input signal that is coupled into the transmission channel by a first mirror of the two resonator mirrors, the input signal being amplified optically in the first nonlinear optical amplifier;an optical signal representative of a recovered clock, the optical signal being coupled out of the transmission channel by a second mirror of the two resonator mirrors;the at least first and second nonlinear optical amplifiers arranged sequentially in a transmission direction of the transmission channel;a wavelength-selective transmission channel section located between the at least first and second nonlinear optical amplifiers and, connecting the amplifiers;an optical signal on a predetermined optical carrier wavelength being transmitted in the channel section;the first resonator mirror inserting the input signal into the transmission channel on the input carrier wavelength;the first amplifier in the transmission direction operating in a nonlinear region with respect to the input signal; andthe second resonator mirror coupling out of the transmission channel the optical signal coupling out of the transmission channel the optical signal on the carrier wavelength that is determined by the transmission channel section, the optical signal originating from a last amplifier of the at least first and second amplifiers in the transmission direction and having pulses which occur periodically in a clock cycle of the clock and define a recovered clock.