60 channel/spl times/3.6-Gb/s optical WDM transmitter using a multiwavelength modelocked semiconductor laser

This summary describes a recent advance in the number of WDM channels that have been generated by a single semiconductor diode laser (SDL) transmitter. The multiwavelength SDL emits 100 ps return-to-zero (RZ) pulses in 60 discrete wavelength channels at a repetition rate of 898 MHz. The 60 WDM channels are spread over approximately 11 nm (centered near 830 nm), yielding a channel separation of 75 GHz. The 898 Mb/s signal is directed through a 1 /spl times/ 4 OTDM multiplexer to increase the single channel bit rate to 3.592-Gb/s in order to match the SONET OC-48 protocol with ample room for overhead. This transmitter configuration thus produces an aggregate bit rate of 215-Gb/s (60 /spl times/ 3.592-Gb/s) utilizing a single laser.