Patent ID: 7430376

Claim:
An all-optical PPM modulator comprising: (i) one or more sources of trains of optical control pulses and optical signal pulses, the optical control and optical signal pulses being equally spaced, but differentiated from one another by at least having different optical wavelengths and/or polarizations prior to modulation; (ii) an modulator for amplitude modulating the control pulses with a signal; and (iii) a chirped Bragg reflector in an optically non-linear waveguide for receiving both the amplitude modulated optical control signal pulses and unmodulated optical signal pulses at an entrance port thereof, the waveguide having a path length selected to achieve temporal overlap of the control and signal pulses in the waveguide, the chirped Bragg reflector being resonant to the optical signal pulses and off-resonant to the optical control pulses, the signal pulses reflecting in the chirped Bragg reflector and exiting an entrance port of the chirped Bragg reflector while the control pulses either are absorbed or exit an exit port of the chirped Bragg reflector.