An optical transmitter, comprising: a first optical modulator configured to modulate a first optical carrier signal having a first wavelength and a first power using a first data bit to generate a first modulated output signal ; a second optical modulator configured to modulate a second optical carrier signal having a second wavelength and a second power using a second data bit to generate a second modulated output signal , wherein the second optical modulator and the first optical modulator modulate in parallel; and an optical wavelength multiplexer operably coupled to the first optical modulator and the second optical modulator , wherein the optical wavelength multiplexer is configured to sum the first modulated output signal and the second modulated output signal into an analog signal suitable for transmission over an optical fiber; wherein the first optical modulator receives the first optical carrier signal from a first laser , wherein the second optical modulator receives the second optical carrier signal from a second laser ; wherein the first wavelength is separated from the second wavelength by at least one hundred gigahertz (GHz), and wherein the second power is one half of the first power; wherein the first data bit and the second data bit are from a same digital signal comprising a plurality of bits, and wherein the first data bit is a most significant bit and the second data bit is a next most significant bit; wherein the first optical carrier signal having the first wavelength and the first power is received from a splitter coupled to the first laser and the second optical carrier signal having the second wavelength and the second power is received from an optical splitter coupled to the second laser . a first optical modulator configured to modulate a first optical carrier signal having a first wavelength and a first power using a first data bit to generate a first modulated output signal ; a second optical modulator configured to modulate a second optical carrier signal having a second wavelength and a second power using a second data bit to generate a second modulated output signal , wherein the second optical modulator and the first optical modulator modulate in parallel; and an optical wavelength multiplexer operably coupled to the first optical modulator and the second optical modulator , wherein the optical wavelength multiplexer is configured to sum the first modulated output signal and the second modulated output signal into an analog signal suitable for transmission over an optical fiber; wherein the first optical modulator receives the first optical carrier signal from a first laser , wherein the second optical modulator receives the second optical carrier signal from a second laser ; wherein the first wavelength is separated from the second wavelength by at least one hundred gigahertz (GHz), and wherein the second power is one half of the first power; wherein the first data bit and the second data bit are from a same digital signal comprising a plurality of bits, and wherein the first data bit is a most significant bit and the second data bit is a next most significant bit; wherein the first optical carrier signal having the first wavelength and the first power is received from a splitter coupled to the first laser and the second optical carrier signal having the second wavelength and the second power is received from an optical splitter coupled to the second laser . <EOS>