Simultaneous wavelength exchange and 2R regeneration for two optical time division multiplexing signals by a single highly nonlinear fiber

Abstract

The simultaneous wavelength exchange and 2R regeneration between two degraded optical time division multiplexing (OTDM) signals is experimentally demonstrated. By exploiting the self-phase modulation effect and offset filtering in a single highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF), it achieves 2R optical regeneration. Meanwhile, it realizes wavelength exchange using a bidirectional configuration. Optical wavelength exchange and 2R of 20- and 50-Gbit/s OOK signals at 1557.3 and 1552.3 nm is implemented with a power penalty of ∼0.5 dB at a bit-error rate of 10−9. The results show that the crosstalk is negligible for both channels in opposite directions. This bidirectional configuration exhibits excellent performance for simultaneous wavelength exchange and 2R regeneration between two degraded OTDM signals with different wavelengths.