Optical wavelength domain code-division multiplexing using an AOM-based ultrafast optical pulse shaping approach
Optical wavelength domain code-division multiplexing access (WD-CDMA) using an AOM-based ultrafast optical pulse shaping approach is proposed and demonstrated experimentally at 1550 nm. This new multiplexing technique utilizes wavelength domain codes that are essentially different optical spectral patterns in order to achieve CDMA. In addition to the advantages of the conventional CDMA technique, WD-CDMA can make full use of the entire optical bandwidth without requiring faster optical switches or modulators. This approach also drastically reduces sensitivity to fiber dispersion. Experimentally, we demonstrate an optical spectral encoder using ultrafast optical pulse shaping with 16 wavelength bits over an optical bandwidth of 5 THz. The spectrally-encoded optical pulse generated with the spectral encoder is then decoded with different WD-CDMA codes in the spectral domain. Different code-division channels can thus extract their own bit information while sharing the same spectral-encoded laser pulse as their common carrier. These spectral-encoded pulses are shown using the cross-correlation technique to be confined within a time slot of 15 ps. A larger number of WD bits is also achievable with our system.
