A system-on-chip microwave photonic processor solves dynamic RF interference in real time with picosecond latency

Radio-frequency interference is a growing concern as wireless technology advances, with potentially life-threatening consequences like interference between radar altimeters and 5 G cellular networks. Mobile transceivers mix signals with varying ratios over time, posing challenges for conventional digital signal processing (DSP) due to its high latency. These challenges will worsen as future wireless technologies adopt higher carrier frequencies and data rates. However, conventional DSPs, already on the brink of their clock frequency limit, are expected to offer only marginal speed advancements. This paper introduces a photonic processor to address dynamic interference through blind source separation (BSS). Our system-on-chip processor employs a fully integrated photonic signal pathway in the analogue domain, enabling rapid demixing of received mixtures and recovering the signal-of-interest in under 15 picoseconds. This reduction in latency surpasses electronic counterparts by more than three orders of magnitude. To complement the photonic processor, electronic peripherals based on field-programmable gate array (FPGA) assess the effectiveness of demixing and continuously update demixing weights at a rate of up to 305 Hz. This compact setup features precise dithering weight control, impedance-controlled circuit board and optical fibre packaging, suitable for handheld and mobile scenarios. We experimentally demonstrate the processor's ability to suppress transmission errors and maintain signal-to-noise ratios in two scenarios, radar altimeters and mobile communications. This work pioneers the real-time adaptability of integrated silicon photonics, enabling online learning and weight adjustments, and showcasing practical operational applications for photonic processing.

Real-time photonic blind interference cancellation

mmWave devices can broadcast multiple spatially-separated data streams simultaneously in order to increase data transfer rates. Data transfer can, however, be compromised by interference. Photonic blind interference cancellation systems offer a power-efficient means of mitigating interference, but previous demonstrations of such systems have been limited by high latencies and the need for regular calibration. Here, we demonstrate real-time photonic blind interference cancellation using an FPGA-photonic system executing a zero-calibration control algorithm. Our system offers a greater than 200-fold reduction in latency compared to previous work, enabling sub-second cancellation weight identification. We further investigate key trade-offs between system latency, power consumption, and success rate, and we validate sub-Nyquist sampling for blind interference cancellation. We estimate that photonic interference cancellation can reduce the power required for digitization and signal recovery by greater than 74 times compared to the digital electronic alternative.

Fully-integrated photonic tensor core for image convolutions

Convolutions are one of the most important operations in both signal and image processing. From spectral analysis to computer vision, convolutional filtering is often related to spatial information processing where neighborhood operations are involved. As convolution operations are based around the product of two functions, vectors or matrices, dot products play a key role in the performance of such operations; for example, advanced image processing techniques require fast, dense matrix multiplications that typically take more than 90% of the computational capacity dedicated to solving convolutional neural networks. Silicon photonics has been demonstrated to be an ideal candidate to accelerate information processing involving parallel matrix multiplications. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate a multiwavelength approach with fully integrated modulators, tunable filters as microring resonator weight banks, and a balanced detector to perform matrix multiplications for image convolution operations. We develop a scattering matrix model that matches the experiment to simulate large-scale versions of these photonic systems with which we predict performance and physical constraints, including inter-channel cross-talk and bit resolution.

Blind source separation with integrated photonics and reduced dimensional statistics

Microwave communications have witnessed an incipient proliferation of multi-antenna and opportunistic technologies in the wake of an ever-growing demand for spectrum resources, while facing increasingly difficult network management over widespread channel interference and heterogeneous wireless broadcasting. Radio frequency (RF) blind source separation (BSS) is a powerful technique for demixing mixtures of unknown signals with minimal assumptions, but relies on frequency dependent RF electronics and prior knowledge of the target frequency band. We propose photonic BSS with unparalleled frequency agility supported by the tremendous bandwidths of photonic channels and devices. Specifically, our approach adopts an RF photonic front-end to process RF signals at various frequency bands within the same array of integrated microring resonators, and implements a novel two-step photonic BSS pipeline to reconstruct source identities from the reduced dimensional statistics of front-end output. We verify the feasibility and robustness of our approach by performing the first proof-of-concept photonic BSS experiments on mixed-over-the-air RF signals across multiple frequency bands. The proposed technique lays the groundwork for further research in interference cancellation, radio communications, and photonic information processing.

Reconfigurable all-optical nonlinear activation functions for neuromorphic photonics

We experimentally demonstrate all-optical reconfigurable nonlinear activation functions in a cavity-loaded Mach-Zehnder interferometer device on a silicon photonics platform, via the free-carrier dispersion effect. Our device is programmable to generate various nonlinear activation functions, including sigmoid, radial-basis, clamped rectified linear unit, and softplus, with tunable thresholds. We simulate benchmark tasks such as XOR and MNIST handwritten digit classifications with experimentally measured activation functions and obtain accuracies of 100% and 94%, respectively. Our device can serve as nonlinear units in photonic neural networks, while its nonlinear transfer function can be flexibly programmed to optimize the performance of different neuromorphic tasks.

High-speed all-optical thresholding via carrier lifetime tunability

We theoretically study the effect of free-carrier lifetime on processing speed and strength of nonlinearity, pertaining to our all-optical thresholder. We find that optimal device performance necessitates tuning lifetime while optimizing for both speed and nonlinearity. We also experimentally demonstrate device processing speed improvement from 400 Mbps to 2.5 Gbps by incorporating PN-junction mediated free-carrier lifetime tuning mechanism. Our study on the significance of free-carrier lifetime is universally applicable to any optical signal processing system reliant on silicon photonic nonlinearities.

Lateral bipolar junction transistor on a silicon photonics platform

Integration of active electronics into photonic systems is necessary for large-scale photonic integration. While heterogeneous integration leverages high-performance electronics, a monolithic scheme can coexist by aiding the electronic processing, improving overall efficiency. We report a lateral bipolar junction transistor on a commercial silicon photonics foundry process. We achieved a DC current gain of 10 with a Darlington configuration, and using measured S-parameters for a single BJT, the available AC gain was at least 3dB for signal frequencies up to 1.1 GHz. Our single BJT demonstrated a transimpedance of 3.2mS/μm, which is about 70 times better than existing literature.

Photonic independent component analysis using an on-chip microring weight bank

Independent component analysis (ICA) is a general-purpose technique for analyzing multi-dimensional data to reveal the underlying hidden factors that are maximally independent from each other. We report the first photonic ICA on mixtures of unknown signals by employing an on-chip microring (MRR) weight bank. The MRR weight bank performs so-called weighted addition (i.e., multiply-accumulate) operations on the received mixtures, and outputs a single reduced-dimensional representation of the signal of interest. We propose a novel ICA algorithm to recover independent components solely based on the statistical information of the weighted addition output, while remaining blind to not only the original sources but also the waveform information of the mixtures. We investigate both channel separability and near-far problems, and our two-channel photonic ICA experiment demonstrates our scheme holds comparable performance with the conventional software-based ICA method. Our numerical simulation validates the fidelity of the proposed approach, and studies noise effects to identify the operating regime of our method. The proposed technique could open new domains for future research in blind source separation, microwave photonics, and on-chip information processing.

Accelerated secure key distribution based on localized and asymmetric fiber interferometers

We propose and experimentally demonstrate an approach to generate and distribute secret keys over optical fiber communication infrastructure. Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs) are adopted for key generation by transferring the environmental noise to random optical signals. A novel combination of wideband optical noise and an asymmetric MZI structure enables the secret keys to be securely transmitted and exchanged over public fiber links without being detected. We experimentally demonstrate this system and show reliable performance: keys are generated at the rate of 502 bit/s, and are successfully exchanged between two parties over a 10 km optical fiber with a bit error of ∼ 0.3%. System security analysis is performed by corroborating our experimental findings with simulations. The results show that our system can protect the key distribution under different attacks, attributed to wideband optical noise and asymmetric MZI structures. Compared to the previous schemes based on distributed MZIs, our scheme exploits localized MZI which provides twofold advantages. Firstly, the key generation rate can be increased by a factor of 5.7 at a negligible additional cost. Secondly, the system becomes robust to, in particular, active intrusion attack. The proposed system is a reliable and cost-effective solution for key establishment, and is compatible with the existing optical fiber communication infrastructure.

Photonic principal component analysis using an on-chip microring weight bank

Photonic principal component analysis (PCA) enables high-performance dimensionality reduction in wideband analog systems. In this paper, we report a photonic PCA approach using an on-chip microring (MRR) weight bank to perform weighted addition operations on correlated wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) inputs. We are able to configure the MRR weight bank with record-high accuracy and precision, and generate multi-channel correlated input signals in a controllable manner. We also consider the realistic scenario in which the PCA procedure remains blind to the waveforms of both the input signals and weighted addition output, and propose a novel PCA algorithm that is able to extract principal components (PCs) solely based on the statistical information of the weighted addition output. Our experimental demonstration of two-channel photonic PCA produces PCs holding consistently high correspondence to those computed by a conventional software-based PCA method. Our numerical simulation further validates that our scheme can be generalized to high-dimensional (up to but not limited to eight-channel) PCA with good convergence. The proposed technique could bring new solutions to problems in microwave communications, ultrafast control, and on-chip information processing.

Neuromorphic photonics with electro-absorption modulators

Photonic neural networks benefit from both the high-channel capacity and the wave nature of light acting as an effective weighting mechanism through linear optics. Incorporating a nonlinear activation function by using active integrated photonic components allows neural networks with multiple layers to be built monolithically, eliminating the need for energy and latency costs due to external conversion. Interferometer-based modulators, while popular in communications, have been shown to require more area than absorption-based modulators, resulting in a reduced neural network density. Here, we develop a model for absorption modulators in an electro-optic fully connected neural network, including noise, and compare the network's performance with the activation functions produced intrinsically by five types of absorption modulators. Our results show the quantum well absorption modulator-based electro-optic neuron has the best performance allowing for 96% prediction accuracy with 1.7×10^-12 J/MAC excluding laser power when performing MNIST classification in a 2 hidden layer feed-forward photonic neural network.

Feedback control for microring weight banks

Microring weight banks present novel opportunities for reconfigurable, high-performance analog signal processing in photonics. Controlling microring filter response is a challenge due to fabrication variations and thermal sensitivity. Prior work showed continuous weight control of multiple wavelength-division multiplexed signals in a bank of microrings based on calibration and feedforward control. Other prior work has shown resonance locking based on feedback control by monitoring photoabsorption-induced changes in resistance across in-ring photoconductive heaters. In this work, we demonstrate continuous, multi-channel control of a microring weight bank with an effective 5.1 bits of accuracy on 2Gbps signals. Unlike resonance locking, the approach relies on an estimate of filter transmission versus photo-induced resistance changes. We introduce an estimate still capable of providing 4.2 bits of accuracy without any direct transmission measurements. Furthermore, we present a detailed characterization of this response for different values of carrier wavelength offset and power. Feedback weight control renders tractable the weight control problem in reconfigurable analog photonic networks.

Simultaneous excitatory and inhibitory dynamics in an excitable laser

Neocortical systems encode information in electrochemical spike timings, not just mean firing rates. Learning and memory in networks of spiking neurons is achieved by the precise timing of action potentials that induces synaptic strengthening (with excitation) or weakening (with inhibition). Inhibition should be incorporated into brain-inspired spike processing in the optical domain to enhance its information-processing capability. We demonstrate the simultaneous excitatory and inhibitory dynamics in an excitable (i.e., a pulsed) laser neuron, both numerically and experimentally. We investigate the bias strength effect, inhibitory strength effect, and excitatory and inhibitory input timing effect, based on the simulation platform of an integrated graphene excitable laser. We further corroborate these analyses with proof-of-principle experiments utilizing a fiber-based graphene excitable laser, where we introduce inhibition by directly modulating the gain of the laser. This technology may potentially open novel spike-processing functionality for future neuromorphic photonic systems.

Two-pole microring weight banks

Weighted addition is an elemental multi-input to single-output operation that can be implemented with high-performance photonic devices. Microring (MRR) weight banks bring programmable weighted addition to silicon photonics. Prior work showed that their channel limits are affected by coherent inter-channel effects that occur uniquely in weight banks. We fabricate two-pole designs that exploit this inter-channel interference in a way that is robust to dynamic tuning and fabrication variation. Scaling analysis predicts a channel count improvement of 3.4-fold, which is substantially greater than predicted by incoherent analysis used in conventional MRR devices. Advances in weight bank design expand the potential of reconfigurable analog photonic networks and multivariate microwave photonics.

Passively synchronized Q-switched and mode-locked dual-band Tm3+:ZBLAN fiber lasers using a common graphene saturable absorber

Dual-band fiber lasers are emerging as a promising technology to penetrate new industrial and medical applications from their dual-band properties, in addition to providing compactness and environmental robustness from the waveguide structure. Here, we demonstrate the use of a common graphene saturable absorber and a single gain medium (Tm³⁺:ZBLAN fiber) to implement (1) a dual-band fiber ring laser with synchronized Q-switched pulses at wavelengths of 1480 nm and 1840 nm, and (2) a dual-band fiber linear laser with synchronized mode-locked pulses at wavelengths of 1480 nm and 1845 nm. Q-switched operation at 1480 nm and 1840 nm is achieved with a synchronized repetition rate from 20 kHz to 40.5 kHz. For synchronous mode-locked operation, pulses with full-width at half maximum durations of 610 fs and 1.68 ps at wavelengths of 1480 nm and 1845 nm, respectively, are obtained at a repetition rate of 12.3 MHz. These dual-band pulsed sources with an ultra-broadband wavelength separation of ~360 nm will add new capabilities in applications including optical sensing, spectroscopy, and communications.

Multi-channel control for microring weight banks

We demonstrate 4-channel, 2GHz weighted addition in a silicon microring filter bank. Accurate analog weight control becomes more difficult with increasing number of channels, N, as feedback approaches become impractical and brute force feedforward approaches take O(2N) calibration measurements in the presence of inter-channel dependence. We introduce model-based calibration techniques for thermal cross-talk and cross-gain saturation, which result in a scalable O(N) calibration routine and 3.8 bit feedforward weight accuracy on every channel. Practical calibration routines are indispensible for controlling large-scale microring systems. The effect of thermal model complexity on accuracy is discussed. Weighted addition based on silicon microrings can apply the strengths of photonic manufacturing, wideband information processing, and multiwavelength networks towards new paradigms of ultrafast analog distributed processing.

Spike processing with a graphene excitable laser

Novel materials and devices in photonics have the potential to revolutionize optical information processing, beyond conventional binary-logic approaches. Laser systems offer a rich repertoire of useful dynamical behaviors, including the excitable dynamics also found in the time-resolved "spiking" of neurons. Spiking reconciles the expressiveness and efficiency of analog processing with the robustness and scalability of digital processing. We demonstrate a unified platform for spike processing with a graphene-coupled laser system. We show that this platform can simultaneously exhibit logic-level restoration, cascadability and input-output isolation--fundamental challenges in optical information processing. We also implement low-level spike-processing tasks that are critical for higher level processing: temporal pattern detection and stable recurrent memory. We study these properties in the context of a fiber laser system and also propose and simulate an analogous integrated device. The addition of graphene leads to a number of advantages which stem from its unique properties, including high absorption and fast carrier relaxation. These could lead to significant speed and efficiency improvements in unconventional laser processing devices, and ongoing research on graphene microfabrication promises compatibility with integrated laser platforms.

Gigabit Ethernet signal transmission using asynchronous optical code division multiple access

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel architecture for interfacing and transmitting a Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) signal using asynchronous incoherent optical code division multiple access (OCDMA). This is the first such asynchronous incoherent OCDMA system carrying GbE data being demonstrated to be working among multi-users where each user is operating with an independent clock/data rate and is granted random access to the network. Three major components, the GbE interface, the OCDMA transmitter, and the OCDMA receiver are discussed in detail. The performance of the system is studied and characterized through measuring eye diagrams, bit-error rate and packet loss rate in real-time file transfer. Our Letter also addresses the near-far problem and realizes asynchronous transmission and detection of signal.

Excitable laser processing network node in hybrid silicon: analysis and simulation

The combination of ultrafast laser dynamics and dense on-chip multiwavelength networking could potentially address new domains of real-time signal processing that require both speed and complexity. We present a physically realistic optoelectronic simulation model of a circuit for dynamical laser neural networks and verify its behavior. We describe the physics, dynamics, and parasitics of one network node, which includes a bank of filters, a photodetector, and excitable laser. This unconventional circuit exhibits both cascadability and fan-in, critical properties for the large-scale networking of information processors based on laser excitability. In addition, it can be instantiated on a photonic integrated circuit platform and requires no off-chip optical I/O. Our proposed processing system could find use in emerging applications, including cognitive radio and low-latency control.

Demonstration of WDM weighted addition for principal component analysis

We consider an optical technique for performing tunable weighted addition using wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) inputs, the enabling function of a recently proposed photonic spike processing architecture [J. Lightwave Technol., 32 (2014)]. WDM weighted addition provides important advantages to performance, integrability, and networking capability that were not possible in any past approaches to optical neurocomputing. In this letter, we report a WDM weighted addition prototype used to find the first principal component of a 1Gbps, 8-channel signal. Wideband, multivariate techniques have immediate relevance to modern radio systems, and photonic spike processing networks enabled by WDM could open new domains of information processing that bring unprecedented bandwidth and intelligence to problems in radio communications, ultrafast control, and scientific computing.

Normalized pulsed energy thresholding in a nonlinear optical loop mirror

We demonstrate for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, that a Sagnac interferometer can threshold the energies of pulses. Pulses below a given threshold T are suppressed, while those above this threshold are normalized. The device contains an in-loop tunable isolator and 10.4 m of a highly doped silica fiber. We derive an analytical model of the nonlinear optical loop mirror's pulse energy transfer function and show that its energy transfer function approximates a step function for very high phase shifts (>π). We reveal some limitations of this approach, showing that a step-function transfer function necessarily results in pulse distortion in fast, nonresonant all-optical devices.

SIMPEL: circuit model for photonic spike processing laser neurons

We propose an equivalent circuit model for photonic spike processing laser neurons with an embedded saturable absorber—a simulation model for photonic excitable lasers (SIMPEL). We show that by mapping the laser neuron rate equations into a circuit model, SPICE analysis can be used as an efficient and accurate engine for numerical calculations, capable of generalization to a variety of different types of laser neurons with saturable absorber found in literature. The development of this model parallels the Hodgkin-Huxley model of neuron biophysics, a circuit framework which brought efficiency, modularity, and generalizability to the study of neural dynamics. We employ the model to study various signal-processing effects such as excitability with excitatory and inhibitory pulses, binary all-or-nothing response, and bistable dynamics.

WDM optical steganography based on amplified spontaneous emission noise

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) optical stealth transmission system carried by amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise. The stealth signal is hidden in both time and frequency domains by using ASE noise as the signal carrier. Each WDM channel uses part of the ASE spectrum, which provides more flexibility to apply stealth transmission in a public network and adds another layer of security to the stealth channel. Multi-channel transmission also increases the overall channel capacity, which is the major limitation of the single stealth channel transmission based on ASE noise. The relations between spectral bandwidth and coherence length of ASE carrier have been theoretically analyzed and experimentally investigated.

Analog noise protected optical encryption with two-dimensional key space

An optical encryption method based on analog noise is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The transmitted data is encrypted with wideband analog noise. Without decrypting the data instantly at the receiver, the data is damaged by the noise and cannot be recovered by post-processing techniques. A matching condition in both phase and amplitude of the noise needs to be satisfied between the transmitter and the receiver to cancel the noise. The precise requirement of the phase and amplitude matching condition provides a large two-dimensional key space, which can be deployed in the encryption and decryption process at the transmitter and receiver.

Temporal phase mask encrypted optical steganography carried by amplified spontaneous emission noise

A temporal phase mask encryption method is proposed and experimentally demonstrated to improve the security of the stealth channel in an optical steganography system. The stealth channel is protected in two levels. In the first level, the data is carried by amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise, which cannot be detected in either the time domain or spectral domain. In the second level, even if the eavesdropper suspects the existence of the stealth channel, each data bit is covered by a fast changing phase mask. The phase mask code is always combined with the wide band noise from ASE. Without knowing the right phase mask code to recover the stealth data, the eavesdropper can only receive the noise like signal with randomized phase.

Physical layer secret key generation for fiber-optical networks

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a method for generating and sharing a secret key using phase fluctuations in fiber optical links. The obtained key can be readily used to support secure communication between the parties. The security of our approach is based on a fundamental asymmetry associated with the optical physical layer: the sophistication of tools needed by an eavesdropping adversary to subvert the key establishment is significantly greater and more costly than the complexity needed by the legitimate parties to implement the scheme. In this sense, the method is similar to the classical asymmetric algorithms (Diffie-Hellman, RSA, etc.).

Performance comparison of optical interference cancellation system architectures

The performance of three optics-based interference cancellation systems are compared and contrasted with each other, and with traditional electronic techniques for interference cancellation. The comparison is based on a set of common performance metrics that we have developed for this purpose. It is shown that thorough evaluation of our optical approaches takes into account the traditional notions of depth of cancellation and dynamic range, along with notions of link loss and uniformity of cancellation. Our evaluation shows that our use of optical components affords performance that surpasses traditional electronic approaches, and that the optimal choice for an optical interference canceller requires taking into account the performance metrics discussed in this paper.

A single source microwave photonic filter using a novel single-mode fiber to multimode fiber coupling technique

In this paper we present a fully tunable and reconfigurable single-laser multi-tap microwave photonic FIR filter that utilizes a special SM-to-MM combiner to sum the taps. The filter requires only a single laser source for all the taps and a passive component, a SM-to-MM combiner, for incoherent summing of signal. The SM-to-MM combiner does not produce optical interference during signal merging and is phase-insensitive. We experimentally demonstrate an eight-tap filter with both positive and negative programmable coefficients with excellent correspondence between predicted and measured values. The magnitude response shows a clean and accurate function across the entire bandwidth, and proves successful operation of the FIR filter using a SM-to-MM combiner.

Demonstration of digital phase-sensitive boosting to extend signal reach for long-haul WDM systems using optical phase-conjugated copy

We demonstrate a hybrid optical/digital phase-sensitive boosting (PSB) technique for long-haul wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) transmission systems. The approach uses four-wave mixing (FWM) to generate a phase-conjugated idler alongside the original signal. At the receiver, the signal and idler are jointly detected, and the phases of the idler symbols are conjugated and summed with the signal symbols to suppress noise and nonlinear phase distortion. The proposed hybrid PSB scheme is independent of modulation format and does not require an optical phase-locked loop to achieve phase matching required by conventional phase-sensitive amplifiers. Our simulation and experimental results of 112-Gb/s dual-polarization quadrature phase-shift-keying (DP-QPSK) transmission confirmed the principle of the PSB scheme, attaining a Q-factor improvement of 2.4 dB over conventional single-channel transmission after 4,800 km of dispersion-managed fiber (DMF) link at the expense of 50% reduction in spectral efficiency and extending the system reach by 60% to 7,680 km.

Pulse lead/lag timing detection for adaptive feedback and control based on optical spike-timing-dependent plasticity

Biological neurons perform information processing using a model called pulse processing, which is both computationally efficient and scalable, adopting the best features of both analog and digital computing. Implementing pulse processing with photonics can result in bandwidths that are billions of times faster than biological neurons and substantially faster than electronics. Neurons have the ability to learn and adapt their processing based on experience through a change in the strength of synaptic connections in response to spiking activity. This mechanism is called spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP). Functionally, STDP constitutes a mechanism in which strengths of connections between neurons are based on the timing and order between presynaptic spikes and postsynaptic spikes, essentially forming a pulse lead/lag timing detector that is useful in feedback control and adaptation. Here we report for the first time the demonstration of optical STDP that is useful in pulse lead/lag timing detection and apply it to automatic gain control of a photonic pulse processor.

Optical steganography based on amplified spontaneous emission noise

We propose and experimentally demonstrate an optical steganography method in which a data signal is transmitted using amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise as a carrier. The ASE serving as a carrier for the private signal has an identical frequency spectrum to the existing noise generated by the Erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) in the transmission system. The system also carries a conventional data channel that is not private. The so-called "stealth" or private channel is well-hidden within the noise of the system. Phase modulation is used for both the stealth channel and the public channel. Using homodyne detection, the short coherence length of the ASE ensures that the stealth signal can only be recovered if the receiver closely matches the delay-length difference, which is deliberately changed in a dynamic fashion that is only known to the transmitter and its intended receiver.

Asynchronous spiking photonic neuron for lightwave neuromorphic signal processing

We developed an asynchronous spiking photonic neuron that forms the basic building block for hybrid analog/digital lightwave neuromorphic processing. Our approach enables completely asynchronous spiking in response to input signals while maximizing the throughput relative to synchronous approaches. Asynchronous operation is achieved by generating the spike source for the photonic neuron through four-wave mixing. This hybrid analog/digital photonic neuron has an electro-absorption modulator as the temporal integration unit for analog processing, while the digital processing portion employs optical thresholding in a highly Ge-doped nonlinear loop mirror.

Photonic microwave finite impulse response filter using a spectrally sliced supercontinuum source

A novel photonic microwave discrete-time finite-impulse response filter is created by spectrally slicing a supercontinuum source, generated from a mode-locked laser. We experimentally demonstrate a four-tap filter with a 28.16 dB extinction ratio. Comparison between measured and predicted magnitude responses shows an excellent match in the performance of the notch filter across the entire bandwidth. The small amount of individual deviation points from the predicted response shows the stability of the amplitude fluctuations between each of the individual, spectral sliced filter taps.

Signal beating elimination using single-mode fiber to multimode fiber coupling

We experimentally demonstrate an all-passive fiber-based approach to prevent undesired beating during signal merging and detection. Beating occurs when optical signals of very close or the same wavelength are combined at a coupler and detected using a photodetector. Our approach is based on signal coupling from several single-mode fibers to a single piece of multimode fiber without interference, such that different signals propagate in different modes with different spatial positions inside the multimode fiber. We have investigated signal beating when the signals are coherent, partially coherent, or incoherent with each other. The measured results for single-mode to multimode coupling show signal beating is substantially reduced, resulting in widely opened eye diagrams and error-free bit error rate performance.

Optical FFT/IFFT circuit realization using arrayed waveguide gratings and the applications in all-optical OFDM system

Arrayed waveguide gratings (AWG) are widely used as wavelength division multiplexers (MUX) and demultiplexers (DEMUX) in optical networks. Here we propose and demonstrate that conventional AWGs can also be used as integrated spectral filters to realize a Fast Fourier transform (FFT) and its inverse form (IFFT). More specifically, we point out that the wavelength selection conditions of AWGs when used as wavelength MUX/DEMUX also enable them to perform FFT/IFFT functions. Therefore, previous research on AWGs can now be applied to optical FFT/IFFT circuit design. Compared with other FFT/IFFT optical circuits, AWGs have less structural complexity, especially for a large number of inputs and outputs. As an important application, AWGs can be used in optical OFDM systems. We propose an all-optical OFDM system with AWGs and demonstrate the simulation results. Overall, the AWG provides a feasible solution for all-optical OFDM systems, especially with a large number of optical subcarriers.

Ultrafast all-optical implementation of a leaky integrate-and-fire neuron

In this paper, we demonstrate for the first time an ultrafast fully functional photonic spiking neuron. Our experimental setup constitutes a complete all-optical implementation of a leaky integrate-and-fire neuron, a computational primitive that provides a basis for general purpose analog optical computation. Unlike purely analog computational models, spiking operation eliminates noise accumulation and results in robust and efficient processing. Operating at gigahertz speed, which corresponds to at least 108 speed-up compared with biological neurons, the demonstrated neuron provides all functionality required by the spiking neuron model. The two demonstrated prototypes and a demonstrated feedback operation mode prove the feasibility and stability of our approach and show the obtained performance characteristics.

All-optical XOR gate with optical feedback using highly Ge-doped nonlinear fiber and a terahertz optical asymmetric demultiplexer

We experimentally demonstrate an all-optical exclusive-OR (XOR) gate with optical feedback using a highly Ge-doped nonlinear fiber. The XOR is achieved based on cross-polarization rotation in nonlinear fiber, while the optical feedback employs a terahertz optical asymmetric demultiplexer (TOAD). The TOAD simultaneously cleans up the XOR output and converts the wavelength of the feedback signal to allow proper feedback operation. The performance of the all-optical XOR gate with optical feedback is studied through both experimental and simulation analysis. An open eye diagram of the XOR output in feedback mode is obtained experimentally, and a correct logic operation in feedback mode is proved through simulation.

Signal feature recognition based on lightwave neuromorphic signal processing

We developed a hybrid analog/digital lightwave neuromorphic processing device that effectively performs signal feature recognition. The approach, which mimics the neurons in a crayfish responsible for the escape response mechanism, provides a fast and accurate reaction to its inputs. The analog processing portion of the device uses the integration characteristic of an electro-absorption modulator, while the digital processing portion employ optical thresholding in a highly Ge-doped nonlinear loop mirror. The device can be configured to respond to different sets of input patterns by simply varying the weights and delays of the inputs. We experimentally demonstrated the use of the proposed lightwave neuromorphic signal processing device for recognizing specific input patterns.

All-optical code routing in interconnected optical CDMA and WDM ring networks

We propose an all-optical hybrid network composed of optical code division multiple access (CDMA) rings interconnecting through a reconfigurable wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) metro area ring. This network retains the advantages of both the optical CDMA and WDM techniques, including asynchronous access and differentiated quality of service, while removing the hard limit on the number of subscribers and increasing network flexibility. The all-optical network is enabled by using nonlinear optical loop mirrors in an add/drop router (ADR) that performs code conversion, dropping, and switching asynchronously. We experimentally demonstrate the functionalities of the ADR in the proposed scheme asynchronously and obtain error-free performance. The bit-error rate measurements show acceptable power penalties for different code routes.

Asynchronous detection of optical code division multiple access signals using a bandwidth-efficient and wavelength-aware receiver

We experimentally demonstrate what we believe to be a novel detection scheme for interfacing asynchronous optical code division multiple access (CDMA) signals with an electronic clock and data recovery system that operates only at the baseband bandwidth. This allows using a large optical bandwidth expansion factor in which the optical chip rate is much larger than the bandwidth of the optoelectronic receiver. The received optical CDMA signal is launched into a four-wave-mixing-based wavelength-aware all-optical front end that rejects multiaccess interference, followed by an amplitude-noise suppression stage comprised of a semiconductor optical amplifier. The clean signal is then converted into a non-return-to-zero-like signal by a baseband receiver. Using the proposed detection scheme, asynchronous transmission and detection of optical CDMA signals is implemented. With the novel detection scheme, the classic CDMA near-far problem is mitigated, and error-free detection is easily obtained.

Improving the privacy of optical steganography with temporal phase masks

Temporal phase modulation of spread stealth signals is proposed and demonstrated to improve optical steganography transmission privacy. After phase modulation, the temporally spread stealth signal has a more complex spectral-phase-temporal relationship, such that the original temporal profile cannot be restored when only dispersion compensation is applied to the temporally spread stealth signals. Therefore, it increases the difficulty for the eavesdropper to detect and intercept the stealth channel that is hidden under a public transmission, even with a correct dispersion compensation device. The experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of this approach and display insignificant degradation in transmission performance, compared to the conventional stealth transmission without temporal phase modulation. The proposed system can also work without a clock transmission for signal synchronization. Our analysis and simulation results show that it is difficult for the adversary to detect the existence of the stealth transmission, or find the correct phase mask to recover the stealth signals.

A high performance photonic pulse processing device

This paper presents an all optical fiber based implementation of a hybrid analog-digital computational primitive that provides a basis for complex processing on high bandwidth signals. A natural implementation of a hybrid analog/digital photonic processing primitive is achieved through the integration of new nonlinear fiber, and exploitation of the physics of semiconductor device to process signals in unique ways. Specifically, we describe the use of a semiconductor optical amplifier to implement leaky temporal integration of a signal and a highly Ge-doped nonlinear fiber for thresholding. A straightforward correspondence between our computational primitive and leaky-integrate-and-fire neurons permits leveraging of a large body of research characterizing the computational capabilities of these devices and the emerging pulse processing computational paradigm as a means to implement practical signal processing algorithms in hybrid computing platforms. An experimental demonstration of the behavior of the pulse processing primitive is presented.

Experimental demonstration of an all-optical fiber-based Fredkin gate

We propose and report on what we believe to be the first experimental demonstration of an all-optical fiber-based Fredkin gate for reversible digital logic. The simple 3-input/3-output fiber-based nonlinear optical loop mirror architecture requires only minor alignment for full operation. A short nonlinear element, heavily doped GeO(2) fiber (HDF), allows for a more compact design than typical nonlinear fiber gates. The HDF is ideal for studying reversibility, functioning as a noise-limited medium, as compared to the semiconductor optical amplifier, while allowing for cross-phase modulation, a nondissipative optical interaction. We suggest applications for secure communications, based on "cool" computing.

A compact nonlinear fiber-based optical autocorrelation peak discriminator

We experimentally demonstrate a nonlinear fiber-based optical autocorrelation peak discriminator. The approach exploits four-wave mixing in a 37-cm highly-nonlinear bismuth-oxide fiber that provides a passive and compact means for rejecting cross-correlation peaks. The autocorrelation peak discriminator plays an important role in improving the detection of optical CDMA signals. Eye diagrams and bit-error rates are measured at different power ratios. Significant receiver sensitivity improvements are obtained and error-floors are removed. The experimental results show that the autocorrelation peak discriminator works well even when the amplitudes of individual cross-correlation peaks are higher than that of the autocorrelation peak.

All-optical encryption based on interleaved waveband switching modulation for optical network security

All-optical encryption for optical code-division multiple-access systems with interleaved waveband-switching modulation is experimentally demonstrated. The scheme explores dual-pump four-wave mixing in a 35 cm highly nonlinear bismuth oxide fiber to achieve XOR operation of the plaintext and the encryption key. Bit 0 and bit 1 of the encrypted data are represented by two different wavebands. Unlike on-off keying encryption methods, the encrypted data in this approach has the same intensity for both bit 0 and bit 1. Thus no plaintext or ciphertext signatures are observed.

Self-clocked 80 Gbits/s optical time-domain multiplexing transmission with clock distribution based on amplitude discrimination

Conventional all-optical feedback-based clock recovery techniques for optical time-domain multiplexing (OTDM) networks place restrictions on the allowed data patterns that can be transmitted. We propose a data-independent clock distribution solution based on amplitude discrimination and experimentally demonstrate it in an 80 Gbits/s self-clocked OTDM transmission. According to the method a single OTDM subchannel is used for exchanging clock information. All processing is performed all optically in low latency nonlinear-optical-loop-mirror-based switches with short (approximately 10 m) nonlinear elements.

All-optical 160 Gbits/s time-domain demultiplexer based on the heavily GeO2-doped silica-based nonlinear fiber

We present a nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM)-based 160 Gbits/s demultiplexer built with a new generation of silica-based nonlinear fibers. Together with the record-breaking length of only 11 m, the demonstrated NOLM has a relatively low control signal power, which is comparable to the best results for bismuth-oxide fibers to date, resulting in a four-times smaller power-length product than any previous silica fiber. Further, unlike previous silica-based approaches, the demonstrated demultiplexer does not require any dispersion management because of its extremely short length. The device is operable with a randomized input polarization at a bit error rate of 10(-8).

Simple nonlinear interferometer-based all-optical thresholder and its applications for optical CDMA

We present an experimental demonstration of an ultrafast all-optical thresholder based on a nonlinear Sagnac interferometer. The proposed design is intended for operation at very small nonlinear phase shifts. Therefore, it requires an in-loop nonlinearity lower than for the classical nonlinear loop mirror scheme. Only 15 meters of conventional (non-holey) silica-based fiber is used as a nonlinear element. The proposed thresholder is polarization insensitive and is good for multi-wavelength operation, meeting all the requirements for autocorrelation detection in various optical CDMA communication systems. The observed cubic transfer function is superior to the quadratic transfer function of second harmonic generation-based thresholders.