Patent ID: 8836953

Claim:
An optical coherence analysis system, comprising: an interferometer that divides a swept optical signal between a reference arm and a sample arm and combines optical signals returning from the reference arm and the sample arm to generate an interference signal; an optical swept source system that generates the swept optical signal; a clock system that generates k-clock signals in response to frequency sweeping of the swept optical signal and generates an optical frequency reference sweep signal indicating that the frequency of the swept optical signal is at a particular sweep frequency, wherein the clock system includes a clock/trigger optical module that comprises a k-clock spectral filter that filters the swept optical signal based on an optical frequency sampling interval to generate the k-clock signals and a sweep start filter that indicates a sweep start frequency of the swept optical signal by spectrally filtering the swept optical signal to generate an optical trigger signal; and a detection system that detects the interference signal in response to the k-clock signals to generate evenly spaced samples of the interference signal and uses the optical frequency reference sweep signal to stabilize sampling across sweeps of the swept optical signal.