Patent ID: 7493051

Claim:
An optical rate increasing device comprising: a coupling device comprising a first input, a first output, a second input, and a second output, wherein the first input and the first output are an upper pair of branches of the coupling device that are crossbar connected via the coupling device, wherein the second input and the second output are a lower pair of branches of the coupling device that are crossbar connected via the coupling device; and an optical loop including a threshold device, an optical amplifier, a delay line, and a gate, wherein the optical loop is associated with the second input and the second output to produce a closed optical loop, wherein said closed optical loop is coupled, by the coupling device, to the first input and to the first output and is arranged to receive a first periodic signal from said first input and to produce therefrom a second periodic signal at said first output, wherein the rate of said second periodic signal is higher than the rate of said first periodic signal, wherein a product between a combined effect of gain of said optical amplifier and an overall attenuation loss on a pulse propagating in a round trip along said closed optical loop is substantially equal to one, thereby producing said second periodic signal having pulses that are substantially identical, wherein said threshold device is arranged to block spontaneous radiation emitted by said optical amplifier, thereby to prevent evolvement of said spontaneous radiation into a lasing mode under a condition represented by the value of said product, wherein said optical amplifier is arranged to operate in a saturated mode to increase stability of said optical amplifier, thereby to ensure that said pulses of said second periodic signal are substantially identical, wherein said gate is arranged to change its state from a transmitting state to a blocking state between every two consecutive pulses of said first periodic signal, and wherein said delay line is adjusted to produce said second periodic signal having equally spaced pulses.