Optical domain analog to digital conversion methods and apparatus
| DWPI Title: Optical signal analog to digital conversion method for converting optical analog signals to optical digital signals, involves converting analog representation signals into optical signal by combining digital bit signals into optical signal |
| Abstract: Methods and apparatus for optical analog to digital conversion are disclosed. An optical signal is converted by mapping the optical analog signal onto a wavelength modulated optical beam, passing the mapped beam through interferometers to generate analog bit representation signals, and converting the analog bit representation signals into an optical digital signal. A photodiode receives an optical analog signal, a wavelength modulated laser coupled to the photodiode maps the optical analog signal to a wavelength modulated optical beam, interferometers produce an analog bit representation signal from the mapped wavelength modulated optical beam, and sample and threshold circuits corresponding to the interferometers produce a digital bit signal from the analog bit representation signal. |
| Use: Optical signal analog to digital conversion method for converting optical analog signals to optical digital signals. |
| Advantage: The method enables providing improved speed and resolution for digitization of optical analog signals |
| Novelty: The method involves converting analog bit representation signals into an optical digital signal, where each of the analog bit representation signals correspond to a respective bit of the optical digital signal. The analog bit representation signals are converted by sampling each of the analog bit representation signals by modulating the signals onto a train of laser pulses and thresholding each of the resulting modulated laser pulse trains to generate digital bit signals or by combining digital bit signals into the optical digital signal. |
| Filed: 1/26/2012 |
| Application Number: US13359300A |
| Tech ID: SD 11759.0 |
| This invention was made with Government support under Contract No. DE-NA0003525 awarded by the United States Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration. The Government has certain rights in the invention. |
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