Patent ID: 8135288

Claim:
A photonic system, comprising: an optical source configured to generate a carrier signal; an optical filter configured to filter the carrier signal to generate a sideband rejected signal; an optical circulator configured to receive the sideband rejected signal from the optical filter and to send the sideband rejected signal to a modulator configured to modulate the carrier signal with a radio frequency (“RF”) input signal to generate a modulated signal and to send the modulated signal to the optical circulator, wherein the optical circulator sends the modulated signal in reverse back to the optical filter for further filtering to generate a vestigial sideband modulated signal; an optical detector configured to receive the vestigial sideband modulated signal and to demodulate the vestigial sideband modulated signal to generate an RF output signal; and a wavelength controller module configured to set an operating parameter to control the wavelength by receiving and using a reference signal and a feedback signal to generate a control signal for the optical source, wherein the reference signal includes a portion of the carrier signal, a reflected signal from the optical filter, and the sideband rejected signal, and wherein the feedback signal includes a carrier detected signal of the vestigial sideband modulated signal, and the RF output signal.