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:
Dec. 13, 1994
Filed:
Mar. 02, 1993
Michael J LaGasse, Seattle, WA (US);
The Boeing Company, Seattle, WA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for improving the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and dynamic range of an optical fiber system. An optical fiber system (10) includes a laser(12) that produces a coherent light signal conveyed over an optical fiber (14) to a Mach-Zehnder modulator (16). An input signal modulates the coherent light, producing modulated side bands, which together with the carrier comprise a modulated light signal. The modulated light signal is filtered using an integrated optical filter (24) that substantially attenuates the carrier frequency, while passing light at the frequency of the modulated side bands. A detector (28) demodulates the filtered light with a substantially greater SNR than would otherwise have been possible. In one preferred form of the invention, the integrated optical filter comprises an imbalanced interferometer (40), and in another embodiment, tile interferometer produces imperfect nulls aligned with the carrier frequency. A relatively higher power laser(12) can be used without damage to detector (28), since the integrated optical filter substantially reduces the average power of the modulated light by attenuating the carrier, thereby enhancing SNR and dynamic range of the system.