The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 06, 1990
Filed:
Jan. 31, 1990
Catherine H Bulmer, Springfield, VA (US);
William K Burns, Alexandria, VA (US);
Alan D Kersey, Springfield, VA (US);
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
An apparatus and method are disclosed for optimizing the modulation efficcy of a remotely-located, polarization-sensitive, integrated optic modulator which is addressed with a non-polarization preserving fiber link. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the polarization state of an input light beam is changed as a function of first and second control signals that are applied to the polarization controller. The non-polarization preserving fiber link conveys the light beam with the changed polarization state to the integrated optic modulator. The integrated optic modulator modulates the light beam with the changed polarization state as a function of any information signal to develop an intensity modulated optical signal. If no information signal is present, the optical signal from the modulator is not modulated. An output fiber conveys the optical signal from the integrated optic modulator to a locally-positioned detector for detection. In response to this input optical signal, the detector develops a first electrical signal that has a peak-to-peak amplitude proportional to any information signal and a second electrical signal proportional to the mean of the optical signal. This second electrical signal is utilized by a control means to controllably develop first and second control signals which force the polarization controller to change the polarization state of the input light beam so that the light beam at the input of the integrated optic modulator is maintained in a preselected polarization state in order to maintain the modulation efficiency of the integrated optic modulator at its optimum level.