Patent ID: 7062111

Claim:
An optical communication module comprising: a monolithic semiconductor photonic integrated circuit formed on a chip and having a plurality of spatially disposed optical communication signal channels formed on the chip, each of said communication signal channels optically isolated from one another along their longitudinal extent in order to independently generate a plurality of modulated channel signals, each channel including: an integrated laser source having an output channel signal at a wavelength different from the wavelength of other output channel signals from other channel laser sources integrated on the chip, an integrated electro-optic modulator optically coupled to receive and modulate the output channel signal from its corresponding channel laser source in accordance with a modulation signal applied to the modulator, and an integrated optical combiner optically coupled to receive all of the modulated channel signals from said electro-optic modulators and combine them into a single combined output signal for passage off said chip via a chip output port, and a booster optical amplifier optically coupled to said output a port of the chip to receive and amplify said single combined output signal.