System for extracting a clock signal from optical signal including plural clock frequencies and a method therefor

Abstract

In a clock signal extraction system, an optical modulator modulates an input optical signal having its clock frequency equal to a first or second frequency with a modulation electrical signal having its frequency equal to the average of the first and second frequencies to output a modulated optical pulse signal to a phase comparator, which receives a reference electrical signal generated by a reference signal generator and having its frequency half as high as a difference between the first and second frequencies to compare in phase the modulated optical pulse signal with the reference electrical signal to output a resultant phase comparison signal to a modulation electrical signal generator, which in turn outputs a modulation electrical signal to the optical modulator and clock signal generator, which generates a signal with the modulation and reference electrical signals mixed, and outputs the signal at first or second frequency as a clock signal.