Optical communication system with co-propagating pump radiation for raman amplification

US6384963B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES INC. · US

Inventors

• David Alan Ackerman · Hopewell, US
• Kenneth Bacher · Macungie, US
• William C. Dautremont-Smith · Westfield, US
• Mei Du · Scotch Plains, US
• Karsten Rottwitt · Berkeley Heights, US
• Andrew John Stentz · Scotch Plains, US
• Thomas Andrew Strasser · Hackettstown, US
• Liming Zhang · Hangzhou City, CN

Key dates

• Filing date: Jan 25, 2001
• Grant date: May 7, 2002
• Expiry date: Jan 25, 2021

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H01S2301/03
• WIPO field: Optics
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A fiber Raman amplifier is configured to use a co-propagating Raman pump source, which may be beneficial in a variety of system configurations (for example, in bidirectional communication systems). By carefully configuring the pump source characteristics, sufficient optical gain can be achieved in the co-propagating arrangement, the characteristics including: (1) using an optical pump power of at least 50 mW, (2) having a relatively large spectral bandwidth within the pump (to suppress SBS); and (3) a frequency difference between all longitudinal pump modes of each pump laser being separated by at least the walk-off frequency between the pump laser frequency and the signal frequency, and all intense longitudinal modes between different pump lasers being separated by at least the electrical bandwidth of the communication system.