A Multirate All-Optical Aggregator for Digital Back-Haul and PON Uplink

An all-optical scheme for the aggregation of multirate colorless grey channels from different input fibers in a single wavelength division multiplexed comb in a single output fiber is proposed. The scheme is based on transparent cross phase modulation in a semiconductor optical amplifier, is polarization independent, and works at low optical input power. A proof-of-concept experimental demonstration is reported showing operation at 1.25, 2.5, 5, and 10 Gb/s for a conversion from 1306 nm to the C-band. Broadband operation on the whole C-band is also reported.