Patent ID: 8478130

Claim:
An optical communication device comprising: a transmission module comprising: a first laser source for emitting a first laser beam having a first central wavelength; a second laser source for emitting a second laser beam with a second central wavelength different from the first central wavelength; a first optical modulator optically coupled to the first laser source and configured to modulate the first laser beam; a second optical modulator optically coupled to the second laser source and configured to modulate the second laser beam; a first optical fiber; an optical coupler optically coupled to the first and second optical modulator, the optical coupler configured for combining and directing the modulated first and second laser beams into the first optical fiber; a semiconductor optical amplifier optically coupled to the first optical fiber, the semiconductor optical amplifier configured for producing a third laser beam having a third wavelength, and a fourth laser beam having a fourth wavelength based upon four-wave mixing effect; a second optical fiber; four band-pass filters optically coupled to the semiconductor optical amplifier to separate the modulated first and second laser beams, and the third and fourth laser beams into four channels; and an optical multiplexer optically coupled to the four band-pass filters to combine and direct the four laser beams into the second optical fiber; and a receiving module comprising: an optical demultiplexer configured to receive and split the four laser beams in the second optical fiber into four channels; and four photoelectric conversion elements coupled to the optical demultiplexer, and configured to receive and convert the four laser beams into electrical signals, respectively.