Optical signal processing for lightwave communications networks

A number of optical signal processing functions that might be potentially important for future lightwave communication networks are described. An optical network with a distribution capacity of 100 HDTV channels is considered along with how such a network can be implemented using the following functional subsystems: frequency converters; transmitter banks; modified (wavelength division multiplexing) WDM demultiplexers; and tunable optical receivers. Discussed are the key network-level issues: the power budget, the channel separation, and the overall rationale for selection of multiplexing techniques. A hardware implementation of the functional subsystems using three basic building blocks-tunable amplifiers/filters, phase locked loops, and comb generators-is discussed