Patent ID: 7176447

Claim:
An electro-optic delay line discriminator comprising: an optical signal source producing an optical signal; an optical splitter for splitting the optical signal from the optical signal source into first and second optical signals; first and second paths for transmitting the first and second optical signals; the first path including: an electrical-to-optical converter responsive to an electrical input signal for converting the first optical signal to a first corresponding optical signal corresponding to the electrical input signal; and an optical delay line following the electrical-to-optical converter for delaying the first corresponding optical signal; the second path including: an optical delay line for delaying the second optical signal; and an electrical-to-optical converter responsive to the electrical input signal for converting the delayed second optical signal to a second corresponding optical signal corresponding to the electrical input signal; an optical-to-electrical converter in each of the first and second paths for converting the first and second corresponding optical signals to first and second corresponding electrical signals, respectively; and a detector responsive to a relative phase difference between the first and second corresponding electrical signals for providing an electrical output signal from the electro-optic delay line discriminator.