Method and apparatus for signal conditioning of optical signals for fiber-optic transmission

摘要

The invention comprises a method and apparatus for passive optical conditioning and format conversion of RZ optical signals including, but not limited to, conversion from RZ to CRZ or to CSRZ, using a nonlinear device. The invention generates signals that may be optimized to improve transmission performance, receiver performance, and/or spectral efficiency of the optical transmission system. A method for passively generating an optical carrier-suppressed return-to-zero (CSRZ) signal according to the present invention includes, propagating an optical RZ signal through a nonlinear element, the nonlinear element configured to broaden the optical RZ signal such that the optical RZ signal is phase shifted by approximately 3Π/2.