Patent Application
20100158524
The present invention disclosed herein relates to an optical communication system, and more particularly, to a source light generator of a passive optical network system and a method of generating source light using the source light generator.
Fiber to the home (FTTH) technology is being developed to transmit large amounts of data through an optical fiber connected from a telephone company to the home in our current high-speed internet and multimedia service environments. Although various optical networks have been studied to realize FTTH technology, cost-effective equipment that enables transmission of large amounts of information is still needed in order to fully commercialize FTTH technology.
The purpose of FTTH technology is to connect an optical communication system to households. An optical communication system constructed based on FTTH technology can provide a 100-Mbps or higher transmission rate and integrated voice, data, and video services through an optical network. That is, triple-play service (TPS) can be provided through FTTH technology.
A wavelength division multiplexed-passive optical network (WDM-PON) is a representative FTTH network. In a WDM-PON, a central office (hereinafter referred to as a CO) allocates different wavelengths to optical network units (hereinafter referred to as ONUs) and transmits data simultaneously to the ONUs. Although a transmission line is shared by a plurality of ONUs, the ONUs can be handled individually. That is, although all ONUs physically share one optical fiber, point-to-point communication is possible between the ONUs and an optical line terminal (hereinafter, referred to as an OLT) of the CO. Therefore, a WDM-PON can provide a high security level and can be limited less by transmission methods. Furthermore, in a WDM-PON, a request of each ONU such as an additional communication service request or a communication capacity increase request can be easily accepted. Moreover, even when one or some of the ONUs break down, malfunction of the whole WDM-PON can be prevented.
For the above-mentioned communication, a WDM-PON should have optical sources having wavelengths corresponding to channels allocated to the ONUs. In addition, there are difficulties in managing and inspecting respective wavelengths allocated to the ONUs and aligning and controlling optical sources and optical components of the WDM-PON.
The present invention provides an optical source having a flat gain and a dispersion compensation function.
Embodiments of the present invention provide upstream source light generators of a passive optical network (PON) system, the upstream source light generators including: an amplification part configured to amplify injection light; and a reflection part configured to receive the amplified injection light and generate reflection light by reflecting the amplified injection light with different optical delays according to wavelengths of the amplified injection light, wherein the reflection part has reflectivity varying according to the wavelengths of the amplified injection light.
In other embodiments of the present invention, RSOAs includes: an optical signal amplification region configured to amplify incident injection light; and a reflection region configured to reflect the amplified injection light with different reflectivities or optical delays according to wavelengths of the amplified injection light.
In still other embodiments of the present invention, there are provided methods of generating upstream source light in a WDM-PON (wavelength division multiplexed-passive optical network) system including a CO (central office) and an ONU (optical network unit), the method including: amplifying injection light provided by the CO; and reflecting the amplified injection light with different reflectivities or optical delays according to wavelengths of the amplified injection light so as to output the reflected injection light as upstream source light.
The accompanying figures are included to provide a further understanding of the present invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain principles of the present invention. In the figures:
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present invention to those skilled in the art.
In the specification, the dimensions of layers and regions are exaggerated for clarity of illustration. It will also be understood that when a layer (or film) is referred to as being ‘on’ another layer or substrate, it can be directly on the other layer or substrate, or intervening layers may also be present. Also, though terms like a first, a second, and a third are used to describe various regions and layers in various embodiments of the present invention, the regions and the layers are not limited to these terms. These terms are used only to tell one region or layer from another region or layer. Therefore, a layer referred to as a first layer in one embodiment can be referred to as a second layer in another embodiment. An embodiment described and exemplified herein includes a complementary embodiment thereof.
In addition, the technical features of the present invention will now be described with reference to exemplary optical signals of three wavelengths λ1, λ2, and λ3 to provide easy and clear understanding of the present invention. However, the optical signals are used only for illustrative purpose to denote optical signals corresponding to a short wavelength λ1, a center wavelength λ2, and a long wavelength λ3 of a limited channel band. The illustrated wavelengths are not limited to particular wavelengths.
The CO 110 includes a wideband downstream source light generator 111, a receiver 112, and a circulator 113. The wideband downstream source light generator 111 generates and outputs a downstream optical signal λd having a wideband wavelength. The receiver 112 receives upstream optical signals λu output from the ONU1140 to ONUn 150. The circulator 113 is switched for transmitting a downstream optical signal λd output from the wideband downstream source light generator 111 or upstream optical signals λu output from the ONU1140 to ONUn 150. The wideband downstream source light generator 111 generates a downstream optical signal λd having a wide spectrum, and the downstream optical signal λd is incident onto the optical fiber 120 through the circulator 113. Thereafter, the downstream optical signal λd is divided into a plurality of downstream optical signals λ1 to λn (where n is a natural number) according to the wavelength of the downstream optical signal λd by an arrayed-waveguide grating (AWG) of the remote node 130. Then, the downstream optical signals λ1 to λn are transmitted from the remote node 130 to the ONU1140 to ONUn 150.
The ONU1140 includes an optical coupler/splitter 141, an optical receiver 142, and an upstream source light generator (upstream optical source) 143. A downstream optical signal λ1 transmitted to the ONU1140 is distributed to the optical receiver 142 and the upstream source light generator 143 by the optical coupler/splitter 141. Upstream source light λout which is output from the upstream source light generator 143 or upstream source light λout which is additionally modulated is delivered to the remote node 130 through the optical coupler/splitter 141. The ONU1140 may further include a component, which is configured to generate an upstream optical signal (not shown) having an allocated wavelength by using upstream source light λout generated by the upstream source light generator 143.
The optical receiver 142 receives a downstream optical signal λ1 transmitted through the optical coupler/splitter 141. The upstream source light generator 143 generates upstream source light λout which may be transmitted from the ONU1140 to the CO 110. The upstream source light generator 143 generates upstream source light λout by amplifying incident injection light λin. The upstream source light generator 143 may have a reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA) structure. Other ONUs, such as the ONUn 150 that shares the remote node 130 with the ONU1140, are configured to generate upstream source light λout in the same manner as the ONU1140. Upstream source light λout generated by the ONU1140 to ONUn 150 may be coupled to each other by the remote node 130 as upstream optical signals λu and transmitted to the CO 110 through the optical fiber 120.
In the current embodiment of the present invention, upstream source light generators 143 to 153 of the ONU1140 to ONUn 150 have flat gain characteristics. In addition, the upstream source light generators 143 to 153 have structures for compensating for dispersion caused by group delay.
In the current embodiment of the present invention, each of the upstream source light generators 143 to 153 generates upstream source light λout by amplifying injection light λin, received from the CO 110 instead of generating the upstream source light λout by its own single mode. An upstream optical source operating in this way is called “a reflective optical source.” Since upstream source light λout is generated by amplifying and reflecting injection light λin, the term “reflective optical amplifier” is also used. Since the upstream source light generators 143 to 153 are reflective optical sources or reflective optical amplifiers, the upstream source light generators does not include components capable of emitting upstream source light λout. Therefore, the WDM-PON 100 can be economically constructed.
In addition, the upstream source light generators 143 to 153 have flat gain and dispersion compensation characteristics. The flat gain characteristics mean that the same optical gain level can be obtained over a wavelength band allocated to the ONU (ONU1140 to ONUn 150). Owing to these characteristics, a Fabry-Perot laser diode (FP-LD) or an RSOA having the same gain level over a wavelength band allocated to the ONU (ONU1143 to ONUn 150) can be provided.
In an optical fiber based communication, the gain of propagating light is characterized by a Gaussian type distribution having a limited band in a wavelength region. Therefore, if the number of channels increases or the operational temperature varies, gain characteristics of channels vary, and thus, operational conditions (i.e., the intensity of injection light or the magnitude of an injection current) should be adjusted according to the gain variation. However, according to the present invention, since the upstream source light generators 143 to 153 have flat gain characteristics, each of the OUN1140 to ONUn 150 having allocated channels can have uniform gain characteristics under the same operation conditions.
The dispersion compensation characteristics mean that the optical fiber 120 is compensated for dispersion by upstream source light λout generated by the upstream source light generators 143 to 153. If upstream source light λout capable of dispersion compensation is provided, signal quality degradation caused by group delay or chromatic dispersion of upstream optical signals λu can be reduced. Owing to the dispersion compensation, the transmission distance of an optical signal can be increased.
In the current embodiment of the present invention, since the upstream source light generators 143 to 153 have flat gain and dispersion compensation characteristics, the WDM-PON 100 can be easily expanded for increasing the number of channels. In addition, since the WDM-PON 100 can be constituted by a system having an increased transmission distance, the WDM-PON 100 can be constructed with low costs.
The amplification part 210 includes a gain waveguide 212 having a predetermined optical gain for amplifying injection light λin. Upper and lower clads 211 and 213 are disposed on the top and bottom sides of the gain waveguide 212. An upper electrode 216 and an ohmic layer 217 are disposed at the upper clad 211. A modulation current (I) is applied to the upper electrode 216 for adjusting the optical gain of a gain medium of the gain waveguide 212.
The ohmic layer 217 may be disposed between the upper electrode 216 and the upper clad 211. A first anti-reflection coating surface 214 is formed on an entrance surface of the gain waveguide 212. In addition, a substrate (not shown) may be disposed at the bottom side of the lower clad 213. A lower electrode (not shown) may be disposed at the bottom side of the substrate. The above-described amplification part 210 may be a laser diode. Alternatively, the amplification part 210 may be an FP-LD, an RSOA, or a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA).
The reflection part 220 includes a clad 221, and a reflection-type asymmetric Bragg grating (RABG) is formed at the top side of the clad 221. A passive waveguide 222 is disposed at the bottom side of the clad 221 for guiding amplified injection light incident from the amplification part 210. A clad 223 is disposed at the bottom side of the passive waveguide 222. A second anti-reflection coating surface 215 may be disposed between the gain waveguide 212 and the passive waveguide 222.
The RABG is formed by selectively etching the top side of the clad 221. The grating period of the RABG varies with a predetermined ratio. The RABG may be formed by photolithography. For example, the RABG may be formed by dry etching or wet etching. That is, the RABG may be formed in a micro-groove structure by etching the top side of the clad 221.
A plurality of grating ridges of the RABG may be formed in a manner such that the grating period Λa (where “a” denotes a grating region) of the grating ridges decreases in the length direction of the passive waveguide 222. In addition, the depth of grooves of the RABG may vary like the grating period Λa of the RABG. The grating period Λa of the RABG, which is formed using an etching pattern as described above, may vary according to frequency (λ). For example, the grating period Λa of the RABG may be about 1 μm or smaller for an optical signal having a wavelength of about 1550 nm. In addition, the grooves of the RABG formed between the grating ridges of the RABG may be filled with a polymer or an index matching material having a refractive index different from that of the clad 221.
The reflection mechanism of the RABG is as follows. Some of injection light λin propagating from the amplification part 210 to the passive waveguide 222 is transmitted to the clad 221 where the injection light λin confronts the RABG. The refractive index or effective refractive index of the passive waveguide 222 varies periodically in the direction of the passive waveguide 222 owing to the RABG. Therefore, some of the injection light λin transmitted to the passive waveguide 222 is reflected and the other is transmitted by the influence of diffraction. The relationship between the grating period Λa of the RABG and reflection wavelength λa can be expressed by Equation 1 below.
where “n” denotes the effective refraction index of the RABG and “m” denotes diffraction order.
In Equation 1, the reflection wavelength λa can be adjusted by varying the grating period Λa of the RABG. The reflectivity of the RABG can be adjusted by varying a parameter (coupling coefficient x grating length) of the RABG. The spectrum width of the RABG can be simply determined by adjusting the parameter (coupling coefficient×grating length) and the grating period Λa (for example, in a chirped grating fashion). The coupling coefficient of the RABG denotes the influence of the RABG on light incident on the passive waveguide 222. The coupling coefficient of the RABG increases in proportion to the depth of the grooves of the RABG but in reverse proportion to the refraction index of the passive waveguide 222. In the current embodiment, the grating period Λa of the RABG is set to Λ3 at a region close to the amplification part 210 so as to reflect a long wavelength λ3 of injection light λin first. The grating period Λa of the RABG is set to Λ1 at a region distant from the amplification part 210 so as to reflect a short wavelength λ1 of the injection light λin, later.
Therefore, in upstream source light λout formed by optical signals reflected from the reflection part 220, a long wavelength optical signal λ3 may be located at a leading position, and a short wavelength optical signal λ1 may be located at a trailing position. Thus, owing to the wavelength based reflection order of the reflection part 220, chirping can be reduced during direct modulation at the gain waveguide 212. In addition, chromatic dispersion can be compensated for, which is caused by wavelength dependent optical delay when light is reflected from the reflection part 220 to an optical fiber.
As described above, the upstream source light generator 143 has a RSOA structure. The amplification part 210 and the reflection part 220 may be provided in the form of an integrated planner lightwave circuit (PLC). That is, the reflection part 220 may be fabricated by making the passive waveguide 222 using silica or polymer and forming the RABG at the top side of the passive waveguide 222. In this case, the reflection part 220 and the amplification part 210 may be fabricated by a hybrid integration method. If the passive waveguide 222 and the gain waveguide 212 are formed of the same compound semiconductor (InGaAsP/InP), the reflection part 220 and the amplification part 210 may be fabricated by a monolithic integration method.
The gain waveguide 212 of the amplification part 210 may be formed of a compound semiconductor (InGaAsP/InP) having a quantum well structure and a band gap of about 1.55 μm. The clads 211 and 213 of the amplification part 210, and the clad 221 including the RABG may be formed of p-InP. The ohmic layer 217 may be formed of p+-InGaAs. A current blocking structure may be formed in the clad 211 in the vicinity of the gain waveguide 212 for restricting a passage of a current applied through the upper electrode 216. The current blocking structure may be a buried heterostructure formed of at least one of p-InP and n-InP. The first and second anti-reflection coating surfaces 214 and 215 may have a stacked structure including a titanium oxide layer and a silicon oxide layer, and the thicknesses of the first and second anti-reflection coating surfaces 214 and 215 may be determined according to the wavelength of injection light king
The structure of the reflection part 220 is not limited to the above-described structure. In the embodiment shown in
In the case where the reflection part 220 employs a diffraction grating structure as a reflection structure, the diffraction grating structure of the reflection part 220 can be varied or modified in various ways. For example, the RABG of the reflection part 220 may be configured by a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) having the above-described spectrum characteristics. For instance, an FBG may be formed on the outer surface of a clad of an optical fiber in the shape of an RABG. In this case, the upstream source light generator 143 may be configured through a simple optical coupling between the reflection part 220 including the FBG and the amplification part 210.
Since the diffraction grating structure of the present invention can be formed in various structures as described above, particular technology is not necessary for fabricating or realizing the diffraction grating structure. That is, the arrangement and shape of the diffraction grating structure are not limited to particular arrangements and shapes. Birefringence can be lowered in the case where the reflection part 220 includes a FBG structure or a diffraction grating structure formed at a silica or polymer waveguide. In this case, polarization independent reflection spectrum can be attained. Moreover, the fabrication technology of FBGs is already well developed, and FBG based dispersion compensators having a dispersion coefficient of about −114.2 ps/nm at a 20-nm or greater range are currently available in the market. A diffraction grating can be formed in various structures at a compound semiconductor (InGaAsP/InP), silica, or polymer waveguide by using a process such as a two-beam hologram process, an E-beam process, and a lithography process. In addition, the RABG of the present invention can be formed in a grating ridge structure or buried heterostructure.
The group delay response characteristics of the reflection part 220 shown in
As shown by the simulation results performed in the above-mentioned design conditions, the optical gain characteristics of the gain waveguide 212 can be compensated for by the reflection spectrum characteristics of the reflection part 220. In addition, desired reflection spectrum characteristics can be obtained by adjusting variables such as a grating length and a grating period. In the response characteristics, ripples and side lobes caused by group delay can be easily removed by an apodization method.
In the above-described optical source structure of the present invention, an FP-LD and an RSOA may be included as the amplification part 210. In addition, the amplification part 210 may be replaced with a structure formed by simply coupling a diffraction grating having the above-described spectrum characteristics to an LD or an SOA, so as to attain the same flat gain and dispersion compensation characteristics. That is, according to the present invention, the coupled structure of the amplification part 210 and the reflection part 220 can be used to amply incident injection light at a near wavelength band of the injection light for using the amplified injection light as upstream source light. In addition, according to the present invention, the reflection spectrum characteristics of the reflection part 220 can be designed regardless of gain medium structural variables. Therefore, the present invention can be applied to an asymmetric multiple quantum well FP-LD to provide flat gain characteristics without dependence on structural variables of a gain medium.
As described above, the present invention provides an upstream source light generator having a flat gain and a dispersion compensation function for a WDM-PON system.
Furthermore, according to present invention, a polarization independent ONU, which is insensitive to device structural variables and operational conditions, can be provided with low costs.
In addition, the upstream source light generator can be easily applied to a hybrid-PON and a long-reach PON as well as a WDM-PON.
The above-disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, and not restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications, enhancements, and other embodiments, which fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope of the present invention is to be determined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the following claims and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-129530 | Dec 2008 | KR | national |
This U.S. non-provisional patent application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2008-0129530, filed on Dec. 18, 2008, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
