Abstract:
The specification discloses a transmitter and receiver set which operates so as to: pick up digital information as electrical impulses, such as information produced by a computer; translate this information into square-wave optical signals, which may be carried along optical fiber; amplify the electronic signal, as well as impress on the electronic signal an oscillation which is characteristic of the data signal alone; detect the said oscillations; and translate this detected signal into the standard electronic signal output.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     This invention relates to demodulation of a known optical signal, and more particularly relates to a simple and inexpensive demodulation of a digital optical signal whose characteristic of perceptible, yet distinctly consistent, square-signal shape deterioration (dispersion) is indicative of transmission in an optical fiber. 
     In the past, simple threshold detection has accomplished signal discrimination with the advantage of low cost, but with several disadvantages, including: 
     (1) the fact that short and medium lengths of fiber cause a dramatic change in the signal amplitude requiring large adjustment of the threshold amplitude level of the threshold detectors. Some manufacturers have taken to selling a standard length of fiber optic cable for a transmitter receiver pari with a set threshold, regardless of the length the customer might want at the time or at a later time. Imposing additional fiber length restrictions on the customer often destroys the cost advantage of the simple threshold detector approach. 
     (2) increased error rate when used with long lengths of fiber, 
     (3) incapability of discriminating between &#34;noise&#34;, that is, spurious signals, having sufficient amplitude to turn the threshold detector on, and appropriate signals. 
     In addition to simple threshold detection, &#34;sequenced voting devices&#34; have been used. In this approach, a digital signal is broken up into a number of slices, 16 for example, which are each &#34;voted on&#34; by single level or multilevel threshold detectors. If a certain number of threshold detectors affirm the presence of a digital signal, then a fixed digital signal is regenerated. The disadvantage of the sequenced voting devices has been their expense, and they are highly data-speed sensitive. 
     It is noted that the Harris Corporation is currently marketing a Model 4359, &#34;fiber optics digital data link,&#34; and that Valtec Corporation is currently marketing a &#34;fiberoptic duplex data link--long distance, model RSK-D1&#34; and a &#34;fiberoptic duplex data link--moderate distance, model RSH-D1&#34;. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     It is the object of the present invention to provide a simple, inexpensive, yet effective optical signal demodulator which discriminates the digital signal from other signals, such as line-induced optical noise from nuclear blasts or lower level nearby sources; electrical transmitter noise; detector dark-current noise; detector-thermal noise; and even noise analogue coding on the same optical line. The invention arises from the realization that a fiber optic transmission medium creates a consistently predictable ramp slope to the leading edge (as well as the following edge) of a binary (digital) signal. This slope can be manipulated to an amplitude overshoot which then causes an oscillation at a characteristic frequency. (Analogue signals also have predictably shifted slopes which can be corrected to their estimated original form, using the technique described herein or other corrective techniques.) 
     Even with the existence of fiber optic communications, the prior art has not utilized the highly stable signal producing a consistent ramp slope where rise time can be very accurately selected--over a narrow or wide range by a phase-locking circuit which locks on a purposefully induced over-shoot oscillation. 
     Previous utilization of phase locking circuitry has been to discriminate different frequencies in frequency-modulated codes. The prior art of phase-locking circuitry can best be described by example. Input value A is coded as frequency 1; input value B is coded as frequency 2; input value C is coded frequency 3, etc. The phase-lock circuit has been used to differentiate at the receiver output different frequencies which were impressed on the signal carrier at the transmitter. 
     In the case of the present invention the frequencies are impressed on the signal at the receiver--just after the signal is detected. Then the phase-lock circuit selects only the frequency (plus or minus the desired determinable frequency range), correctly corresponding to a near instantaneous rise at the transmitter input to the optical fiber. Additionally, the output of a typical phase-locking circuit is fixed, and therefore readily followed by a threshold detector, functioning here in a manner quite different from its usual manner. 
     In the present invention, the threshold detector essentially performs the task of cleaning up the phase-locking cirucit-induced characteristics, in the manner described below. 
    
    
     Additional objects, advantages and characteristic features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the data set. 
     FIG. 2 is a schematic of the transmitter circuit. 
     FIG. 3 is a schematic of the receiver circuit. 
     FIGS. 4a-4e are wave shapes. 
     FIG. 5 is a phase-lock circuit characteristic output. 
    
    
     In FIG. 1, (11) is the transmitter input signal interface; (12) is the light source driver circuit; (13) is the light source, e.g., pulsed CW laser or light emitting diode; (14) is the light source/fiber interface; (15) is the optical fiber(s) ; (16) is the fiber(s)/light detector interface; and (17) is the light detector, such as p.i.n. photo-detector, photo-transistor, avalanche photo-diode, avalanche reach-through photo-diode, photo-multiplier tube; (18) is the operational amplifier; (19) is the operational amplifier feedback resistor; (20) is the operational amplifier capacitor; (21) is the germanium diode; (22) is the phase-locking circuit; (23) is the threshold detecto (24) is the potentiometer; and (25) is the receiver output signal interface. 
     The transmitter as depicted in FIG. 1 has a transmitter input signal interface (11), such as an RS-232C voltage signal (or any other standard binary signal) to transistor-transistor logic (TTL) levels, or current loop signals to TTL levels (or to emitter coupled logic (ECL, etc.). The TTL level signal operates a fast light source driver (12). The light source (13) is turned on at a speed depending greatly on the quality of the light source. A typical low cost LED will turn on at a 20 megahertz rate or 50 nanoseconds from 10% brightness to 90% brightness. The light is transmitted through the light source/fiber interface (14), into the optical fiber(s) (15), through the fiber/light detector interface (16), into the light detector (17). By the time it has reached the operational amplifier, the signal has passed through sections 11 thru 17, deteriorating all along the way. 
     The objective of the usual receiver electronics is to reproduce the original binary signal (See FIG. 4(a)) in the following way: 
     (1) detect the optical signal; 
     (2) amplify this signal faithfully to a level of strength for signal processing; 
     (3) process the signal to proper shape (squareness, as the final output is binary (on/off)); 
     (4) Eliminate spurious signals with improper length or strength by setting a threshold detector; and 
     (5) interface the resulting processed signal to RS-232C voltage standards (any fixed voltage between +3 and +20 Volts for one polarity, e.g. +8 Volts, and any fixed voltage between -3 and -20 Volts for the other polarity, e.g. -8 Volts). 
     This invention does not faithfully amplify the detected signal. Rather, by adjusting the operational amplifier capacitance (20) (response speed) very slightly, in the order of a few pico-Farads, an overshoot can be induced at the leading corner of the relatively well-known incoming signal shape depicted in FIG. 4(c). Spurious incoming signals will not cause the same overshoot shape. 
     This overshoot looks like a sine wave with fixed frequency (or phase). The next component is a &#34;phase (frequency ) lock&#34; circuit (21). This circuit is set to lock onto or respond or switch on at this sine shape&#39;s frequency. That is, the shape depicted in FIG. 4(c) is converted to the shape depicted in FIG. 4(d) by the use of a germanium diode (21), which prevents a voltage from going below zero, in this case. The phase lock circuit then turns on, i.e., goes to a shape closely resembling the final desired shape depicted in FIG. 4(e). Since the phase lock circuit is of a delicate sort, the resulting output from this circuit may not be quite so clean, but instead have incipient switch-ons and switch-offs. Also, there are the transient characteristic switching cycles. The actual output may look like the wave shape depicted in FIG. 5. 
     These phase lock circuit aberrations are cleaned up by setting the potentiometer (24) of a threshold detector (23) about half-way up the proper signal. The threshold detector does not detect the spurious incipient switch-ons, because they are not above the threshold. As for the transient characteristic switching cycles, the threshold detector has its own innate capacitance which does not detect very, very short on-off switches in the signal, even though the switches are of sufficient magnitude above the magnitude threshold. The result is the final desired shape depicted in FIG. 4(e). That is, FIG. 4(e) shows what the computer&#39;s noise discriminator circuit is looking for. Thus, the present invention achieves a very low final or operational &#34;bit error rate&#34;, for a typical optical fiber signal shape, and does this inexpensively. 
     
         __________________________________________________________________________Production Component Items Specification for FIGS. 2 and 3   NumberComponent   Required          Part Description,Item    per P.C.          Manufacturer andNumber  Board        Part Number  Second Source Manufacturer__________________________________________________________________________(63)    1                 RS232-C Line Driver        MC1488L or   I.C. - Motorola        LM1488J      I.C. - National Semiconductor(60)&amp;(30)   1                 RS232-C Line Receiver**Combined     MC1489L or   I.C. - Motorola        LM1489J      I.C. - National Semiconductor(67),(68)   2                 Zener Diodes        1N4739A or   Motorola        1N4739A      International Rectifier(53),(73)   2                 Zener Diodes        1N4742A or   Motorola        1N4742A      International Rectifier(56)    1                 Phase Lock Loop        NE565A or    I.C. - Signetics        LM565CN      I.C. - National Semiconductor(35)    1                 Optical Source        HEMT-3300 or L.E.D. - Hewlett-Packard*        FLV 104      L.E.D. - Fairchild (needs 12 Ohm,                     1/2Watt, 1% resistor instead of 30 Ohm)(40)&amp;(41)&amp;(44)   1                 Optical Detector/OperationalCombined                  Amplifier with Internal Feedback                     Resistor        529-2-5      Devar Inc.(34)    1                 Source Driver        SN75451BP or I.C. - Texas Instruments        DS75451J-8   I.C. - National Semiconductor(31),(47),(48),   5                 Tantalum Capacitor(57),(58)                 ±10%, 22* microfarad (Optional                     Range: 22 to 33 microfarad, 15 to                     20 to 35 Volt)        198D226x0015K1 or                     Sprague        MMS-015-226A Case S                     Corning(50)    1                 Germanium Diode        1N34         Several manufacturers(45)    1                 Metal Film High Stability                     Precision Resistor,                     ±1%, 5.5 MOhm, 1/2 Watt (Optional                     Range: 500 K to 6 Mohm)        MEB          TRW (International Rectifier                     Corporation)                     International Telephone and                     Telegraph(52),(66)   4                 Metal Film or Carbon Resistors,(69),(74)                 ±10%, 270 Ohm, 1/2 Watt                     Allen-Bradley(36)&amp;(71)   1                 RS232 Connector,Combined                  180° Type, Selective Gold over                     Nickle Finish, Post Length: .425                     Inches, Post Size: .025 Inches                     Square        205738-3 or  AMP        205738-7     AMP                     Cinch   1                 Power Cord,                     Three Wire, 6 Foot Length, .253                     Inch Outside Diameter                     Belden   1                 Miniture Toggle Switch        MTA 106DPC or                     ALCO        MPC 121      JBT   1                 Light Emitting Diode Indicator        550-0405     Dialco(59)    1                 5 KOhm Potentiometer,                     Multi-turn Cermet Type        3805P or     AMPHENOL.sup.R        3069P or     Bourns        43P          Spectrol   1                 Detector Bushing        530524-1     AMP   1                 Source Holder        530563-1     AMP(46)    1                 Small capacitor, few picofarads                     Adjusted to suit requirements(54),(64),   4                 Tantalum Capacitors(65),(72)                 ±10%, 25 Volt, 5.6* microfarad                     (Optional Range: 5.6 to 10 micro-                     farad, 15 to 20 to 25 Volt)        198D106x0025K1 or                     Sprague        MMS-025-106A Case S                     Corning(62),(42),(43)   3                 Ceramic Capacitors-Disk Type                     0.2 microfarad (Optional Range:                     20 to 50 Volt)                     Sprague        UK25-204 or  Centralab        4MCG-C-224M  ARCO   1                 Ceramic Capacitor - Disk Type                     0.0047 microfarad (Optional                     Range: 20 to 1000 Volt)                     Sprague        CCD-472      ARCO(32),(70)   2                 Ceramic Capacitors-Disk Type                     330 picofarad (Optional Range:                     20 to 1000 Volt)                     Sprague        CCD-331      ARCO(55)    1                 Metal Film or Carbon                     Resistors, ±10%, 82 KOhm, 1/4 Watt                     Allen-Bradley(61)    1                 Resistor, ±10%, 5.6 KOhm, 1/4 Watt                     Allen-Bradley(49),(51)   2                 Resistors, ±10%, 2.7KOhm, 1/4 Watt                     Allen-Bradley(33)    1                 Metal Film Precision Resistor,                     ±1%, 30 Ohms for Hewlett-Packard                     HEMT-3300, 1/2 Watt (Optional                     Range: 30 to 33 Volt)        C5 or        Corning        MFS-1/2 or   Dale        MEB          TRW (International Rectifier                     Corporation__________________________________________________________________________ Note:- * = preferred, P.C. Board = printed circuit board, I.C. = integrated circuit, L.E.D. =light emitting diode, ** = Line Receiver integrated circuit contains also a threshold detector section, used herein as component item number (60). 
    
     IMPROVEMENTS AND ALTERNATIVES 
     (1) Utilization of the leading and following edges of phase oscillation, matching two phases in a balanced circuit. 
     (2) Utilization of the leading-edge and following-edge oscillation, establishing time separation compared to known signals&#39; leading-edge and following-edge separation. 
     (3) Alternative of impressing particular slope ramp and/or oscillation at light source driver circuit (12) at transmitter end. 
     (4)Utilization of leading-edge to frequency-discriminate different channels, which are binary, into serial information stream, by impressing different ramps at the transmitter source drive circuit (12), for example: channel 1=ramp slope 1, channel 2=ramp slope 2, . . . , channel n=ramp slope n. These different slopes could then be differentiated in the same way as in the present embodiment (n pre-set phase lock circuits in series), or by having one phase lock circuit with n different sequenced frequency lock settings, sequenced by an automatic system. 
     (5) Same as alternative directly above, that is (4), except different channels do not all have to be binary. Some or all signal channels can be analogue. 
     (6) The frequency selecting circuit is set in the existing embodiment for a range of slope ramps that allow a range of predictable slopes that allow a range of predictable slope ramps corresponding to a distance range of x meters of a specific fiber optic cable to y meters. If the distance is known before hand at x 1  to y 2 , then the section frequency can be much narrower, or wider as the case may be. Or, after the implementation at a particular site, an automatic system can select the very narrow frequency from the slope ramp oscillation corresponding to the length and type of optical fiber(s) actually used and known. 
     (7) A variation in the feedback resistor will effect overshoot of the amplifier in the same way as the small Farad capacitor (20) induces overshoot when it (20) is varied. 
     (8) Utilization of other methods of slope ramp section. 
     Although the present invention has been shown and described with reference to a particular embodiment, nevertheless, various changes and modifications which are obvious to a person skilled in the art to which the invention pertains are deemed to lie within the spirit, scope and contemplation of the invention.