KR100278305B1 - Multi-frequency light generator using continuous wave mixing - Google Patents

Abstract

1. TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a multi-frequency light generating device using continuous wave mixing.

2. The problem to be solved by the invention

The present invention provides a multi-frequency light generating device that can significantly improve the switching speed of the optical signal for each channel by selectively switching the optical signal of each channel by mixing the continuous wave and the optical signal by the optical nonlinearity of the material Its purpose is to.

3. Summary of Solution to Invention

The present invention comprises: optical switching means for branching and switching an input optical signal according to a control signal input from the outside; Light mixing means for mixing the continuous wave input from the outside and the optical signal branched and transmitted by the optical switching means; Filtering means for outputting an optical signal of a specific frequency band by filtering the optical signal mixed by the optical mixing means; And optical coupling means for combining and outputting the optical signal transmitted from the filtering means and the optical signal transmitted from the optical switching means.

4. Important uses of the invention

The present invention is used for optical signal switching in optical transmission and optical exchange system.

Description

Multi-frequency light generator using continuous wave mixing

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a multi-frequency light generating device in an optical transmission and light exchange system based on a frequency wavelength division multiplexing scheme. It relates to a light generating device.

Conventionally, only a required number of light sources of a single frequency are combined by using an optical combiner, or by directly changing the oscillation frequency of one light source.

However, in the case of using the optical coupler as described above, as many light sources as the number of channels are required and inefficient. Also, when the oscillation frequency of the light source is directly changed, the switching speed of the channel is slow and the accuracy is significantly decreased.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and in realizing a variable frequency light source essential for the optical transmission and optical exchange system based on the frequency wavelength division multiplexing method, continuous mixing of the wave by optical nonlinearity of the material (wave mixing) It is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-frequency light generating device that can significantly improve the switching speed of the optical signal for each channel by selectively switching the optical signal of each channel by employing the

1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a multi-frequency light generating device using wave mixing according to the present invention.

2 is an explanatory diagram showing a frequency relationship in a multi-frequency light generating device using wave mixing according to the present invention.

3 is a block diagram of a filter of the third stage of FIG.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

111, 117, 122: optical switch 112, 118, 123: optical mixer

113, 119, 124: Amplifiers 114, 120, 125: Filter

115, 121, 126: optocouplers

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a multi-frequency light generating apparatus, comprising: optical switching means for branching and switching an input optical signal according to a control signal input from the outside; Light mixing means for mixing the continuous wave input from the outside and the optical signal branched and transmitted by the optical switching means; Filtering means for outputting an optical signal of a specific frequency band by filtering the optical signal mixed by the optical mixing means; And optical coupling means for combining and outputting the optical signal transmitted from the filtering means and the optical signal transmitted from the optical switching means.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a multi-frequency light generating device using wave mixing according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the multi-frequency light generating apparatus of the present invention includes an optical switch 111 for branching and switching an input probe optical signal according to a control signal CS1 input from an external device, and an external device. Optical mixer 112 for mixing the continuous wave (CW) input from the optical signal and branched by the optical switch 111, and for amplifying the optical signal mixed by the optical mixer 112 An amplifier 113, a filter 114 for filtering an optical signal amplified and transmitted through the amplifier 113 to output an optical signal of a specific frequency band, and an optical signal and an optical switch 111 transmitted from the filter 114. Optical switch 117 for branching and switching the optical signal coupled by the optical coupler 115 according to the control signal CS2 input from the outside and the optical coupler 115 for combining and outputting the optical signal transmitted from the (). ), Continuous wave and optical switch 117 input from the outside The optical mixer 118 for mixing the optical signal branched by the transmission, the amplifier 119 for amplifying the optical signal mixed by the optical mixer 118, and is amplified and transmitted through the amplifier 119 A filter 120 for filtering an optical signal and outputting an optical signal of a specific frequency band, and an optical coupler 121 for combining and outputting the optical signal transmitted from the filter 120 and the optical signal transmitted from the optical switch 117. And the optical switch 122 for branching and switching the optical signal coupled by the optical coupler 121 according to the control signal CS3 input from the outside, and the continuous wave and optical switch 122 input from the outside. The optical mixer 123 for mixing the optical signals transmitted by branching, the amplifier 124 for amplifying the optical signal mixed by the optical mixer 123, and the optical signal amplified and transmitted through the amplifier 124 To output optical signal of specific frequency band And an optical coupler 126 that combines and outputs the optical signal transmitted from the filter 125 and the optical signal transmitted from the optical switch 122.

Here, the multi-frequency light generating device is composed of three steps, that is, the first step is composed of the optical switch 111, the optical mixer 112, the amplifier 113, the filter 114 and the optical combiner 115, The second stage consists of the optical switch 117, the optical mixer 118, the amplifier 119, the filter 120 and the optical combiner 121, the third stage is the optical switch 122, the optical mixer 123 , An amplifier 124, a filter 125, and an optical coupler 126.

As described above, the optical signal coming from the optical mixers 112, 118, and 123 of each stage includes an optical signal generated by the mixing of the optical signal input at the front end and the continuous wave, of which the optical signal is generated Only light should be entered into the next stage. To this end, the filter of each stage is used, which must pass only optical signals of all frequencies that can be mixed and produced by the optical mixer of each stage.

Referring to the operation of the multi-frequency light generating device of the present invention having the structure as described above in detail as follows.

The frequency of the optical signal when the frequency of a light switch 111 of the first stage input optical signal of ω _o through the optical coupler 112 in accordance with the control signal (CS1) input to the first stage 2 ω _o (i.e. If the optical mixer 112 does not pass through), or the optical mixer 112 passes through the optical mixer 112, the frequency of the optical signal is determined as shown in Equation 1 below.

2 (ω _o + Δω / 2) -ω _o = ω _o + Δω

Here, ω _o + Δω / 2 is a frequency of a pump beam, and the frequency of the pump beam is a signal input to the light mixers 112, 118, and 123.

Whether the optical signal inputted to the optical switch 117 is mixed with the continuous wave by the control signal CS2 is determined.

At this time, if it is not mixed with the continuous wave, the frequency of the optical signal input to the optical switch 117 is maintained as it is input to the optical switch 122, and if mixed with the continuous wave, the optical signal input to the optical switch 1118 Depending on the frequency of (that is, ω _o or ω _o + Δω)

Next, Equation 2 is changed to Equation 2 or Equation 3 and input to the optical switch 122.

ω _o + 3Δω / 2) -ω _o = ω _o + 3Δω

_{2 (ω o + 3Δω / 2} ) - (ω o + Δω) = ω o + 2Δω

In other words, the frequency control signal four different values of the distance depending on the combination of (CS1, CS2) of the optical signal inputted to the optical switch 122 (that is, ω _o, ω _o + Δω, ω _o + 2Δω And ω _o + 3Δω).

Since the frequency of the pump beam input to the optical mixer 123 is ω _o + 7Δω / 2 based on the same principle, the frequency of the optical signal newly generated by the continuous wave in the optical mixer 123 is an optical switch ( 122, ω _o + 4Δω, ω _o + 5Δω, ω _o + 6Δω and ω _o + 7Δω.

As a result, optical signals of eight different frequencies at equal intervals are output through the optical combiner 126 using four different light sources according to a combination of the three control signals CS1 to CS3.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the frequency relationship in the multi-frequency light generating apparatus of FIG. 1, in which the combination of the control signals CS1 to CS3 and the light exiting to the optical coupler 126 of the last stage are frequencies and It shows the relationship with the frequency of the pump beam (pump beam) input to the light mixers 112, 118, 123.

For example, when the combination of the control signals CS1 to CS3 is '111', the frequency of the output optical signal is ω _o + 5Δω.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the filter of the third stage of FIG. 1 and is composed of two arrayed waveguide grating multiplexers (AWGMs).

The function of the AWGM is to output an optical signal of several frequency and wavelength components input to one port according to the direction of the optical signal is separated and output for each frequency and wavelength, or conversely to an optical signal of several frequency and wavelength components input to multiple ports It is gathered to one port and printed.

That is, when optical signals of various frequencies are input to the AWGM 311, the signals are separated for each frequency and proceed to the output ports P11 to P18 of the AWGM 311, and the ports connected to the second AWGM 312 among them ( Only four frequencies, ω _o + 4Δω, ω _o + 5Δω, ω _o + 6Δω and ω _o + 7Δω, proceed to the output port of the AWGM 312.

In the same manner, by changing the connection between the two AWGM, the filters 114 and 120 of the first and second stages of FIG. 1 may also be implemented.

For example, the second filter 120 may be implemented by connecting only the ports P13 and P23 and the ports P14 and P24 of FIG. 3.

The above is a case where the continuous wave and the optical signal are mixed by the optical mixers, and the operating principle for the case where the differential frequency generation is used for the optical mixing is also the same.

The only difference is that the frequency of the pump beam input to the optical mixer is twice as large as that of the optical mixer in the case of differential frequency generation, which is apparent from the relationship between the frequencies described above.

It is apparent that the structure of the multi-frequency light generating device of the present invention described above can be expanded by increasing the number of frequency-connected optical mixers. That is, when N light mixers and N + 1 light sources are used, the structure of the multi-frequency light generating device of the present invention can generate 2 ^N different kinds of light.

At this time, if the frequency channel interval is Δω, the frequency of the pump beam input to the k-th wave mixing device should be ω _o + (2 ^k -1) Δω / 2 for light mixing, and 2ω _{o for} differential frequency generation. It should be + (2 ^k -1) Δω.

Although the technical idea of the present invention has been described in detail according to the above preferred embodiment, it should be noted that the above-described embodiment is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. In addition, those skilled in the art will understand that various embodiments are possible within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

As described above, the present invention can significantly reduce the number of light sources required in the communication system by selectively switching the optical signals of each channel by mixing the continuous wave and the optical signal due to the optical nonlinearity of the material, and also each channel. It is possible to significantly increase the accuracy while improving the switching speed of the optical signal.

Claims (4)

In the multi-frequency light generating device, Optical switching means for branching and switching the input optical signal according to a control signal input from the outside; Light mixing means for mixing the continuous wave input from the outside and the optical signal branched and transmitted by the optical switching means; Filtering means for outputting an optical signal of a specific frequency band by filtering the optical signal mixed by the optical mixing means; And Optical coupling means for combining and outputting the optical signal transmitted from the filtering means and the optical signal transmitted from the optical switching means Multi-frequency light generating device using a continuous wave mixing comprising a. The method of claim 1, Amplifying means for amplifying the output optical signal of the light mixing means and transferring the light signal to the filtering means Multi-frequency light generating device using a continuous wave mixing further comprises. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The light mixing means, A multi-frequency photon generator using continuous wave mixing, characterized by mixing four waves using differential frequency generation or third-order nonlinearity of material. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The filtering means, 2. A multi-frequency light generator using continuous wave mixing, characterized in that the optical path is set only on specific ports of two arrayed waveguide grating multiplexers (AWGMs).