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:
Feb. 03, 2004
Filed:
Sep. 28, 2001
Richard D. Pering, Mountain View, CA (US);
Douglas M. Baney, Los Altos, CA (US);
Agilent Technologies, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
Heterodyne based optical spectrum analysis (OSA) involves mixing an input signal with a swept local oscillator signal to generate a heterodyne beat signal and then stretching the heterodyne beat signal before the signal is sampled. A system for optical spectrum analysis includes a local oscillator source, an optical coupler, a heterodyne receiver, and a processor. A circuit for stretching the heterodyne beat signal is included in the heterodyne receiver and may include a diode in series with a capacitor and a resistor or a diode in series with a capacitor and a switch. Stretching the heterodyne beat signal involves extending the duration of the signal so that the signal can be detected with fewer samples per unit of time than an unstretched signal. Another embodiment of an OSA includes a first data acquisition unit for obtaining low resolution data and a second data acquisition unit for obtaining high resolution data.