Dynamic measurement of and compensation for impairments to optical data communication pulses
US7206522B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 24, 2002 |
| Grant date | Apr 17, 2007 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 16, 2024 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01J11/00
- WIPO fieldTelecommunications
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A photomultiplier module (PMT), preferably a PMT with a gallium arsenide (GaAs) photocathode, is used as a N-photon detector (N is an integer ≧2). The PMT detects the N-photon absorption rate of an optical signal having a wavelength range extending from 1.0 μm to an upper wavelength region that increases as the number of photons simultaneously absorbed by the PMT increases beyond two. The N-photon absorption rate is used by a signal compensation apparatus to reduce impairments which affect the rate, such as group velocity dispersion and/or polarization mode dispersion, in a received optical pulse communication signal. The N-photon absorption rate can also be used to determine the optical signal-to-noise ratio of a received optical pulse communication signal, and/or to synchronize a second optical pulse signal with the first optical signal.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.