OTDM-to-WDM Conversion Based on Time-to-Frequency Mapping by Time-Domain Optical Fourier Transformation

Abstract

This paper reports on the utilization of the time-domain optical Fourier transformation (OFT) technique for serial-to-parallel conversion of optical time division multiplexed (OTDM) data tributaries into dense wavelength division multiplexed (DWDM) channels. The OFT is implemented by using a dispersive medium followed by phase modulation; the latter being achieved by a four-wave mixing process with linearly chirped pump pulses. Both numerical and experimental investigations of the OTDM-to-WDM conversion technique are carried out. Experimental validations are performed on 320- and 640-Gbit/s OTDM data with error-free performance.