Very-high-speed optical signal processing

Challenges of next-generation transmission technologies are summarized in the context of creating future terabit-per-second networks. The technologies will be realized through both the separate and combined evolution of inherent lightwave capabilities along with time-, wavelength-, and space-domain optical processing techniques. Optical signal processing techniques in the tens of gigabit per second range for future high-speed transmission systems and broadband networks are reviewed     

Performance analysis and comparison of optical 3R regenerators utilizing self-phase modulation in fibers

Performance of fiber-based optical signal regenerators consisting of a synchronous amplitude modulator, a highly nonlinear fiber, and an optical bandpass filter is analyzed. The regenerators are operated in two different schemes: one utilizes solitonlike pulse compression in anomalous-dispersion fiber and subsequent filtering, and the other utilizes spectrum broadening in normal-dispersion fiber and subsequent spectrum slicing. Regeneration performance is compared for the two schemes in terms of the shape of energy transfer function and abilities of noise and timing-jitter reduction. Although both types of regenerators show good regenerator performance, the one based on spectrum broadening and slicing has better ability to stabilize signal amplitude while requiring larger signal power launched into the nonlinear fiber. The effectiveness of the regenerators in single-channel quasi-linear highly dispersed pulse transmission and dispersion-managed soliton transmission is also numerically examined.     

A 64-Mb DRAM with meshed power line

A 64-Mb dynamic RAM (DRAM) has been developed with a meshed power line (MPL) and a quasi-distributed sense-amplifier driver (qDSAD) scheme. It realizes high speed, t_RAS=50 ns (typical) at V_cc=3.3 V, and 16-b input/output (I/O). This MPL+qDSAD scheme can reduce sensing delay caused by the metal layer resistance. Furthermore, to suppress crosstalk noise, a V_SS shield peripheral layout scheme has been introduced, which also widens power line widths. This 64-Mb DRAM was fabricated with 0.4-μm CMOS technology using KrF excimer laser lithography. A newly developed memory cell structure, the tunnel-shaped stacked-capacitor cell (TSSC), was adapted to this 64-Mb DRAM     

Joint decorrelating multiuser detection and channel estimation inasynchronous CDMA mobile communications channels

The asymptotic efficiencies of two decorrelators, path-by-path and channel-matched decorrelators, are analyzed in fading multipath propagation environments, and based upon the analytical results, a new joint multiuser detection and channel estimation scheme is proposed for asynchronous code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile communications channels. In the path-by-path decorrelator, each of the received signals corresponding to one of the multiple propagation paths is regarded as an independent interference source. On the contrary, in the channel-matched decorrelator, each composite signal transmitted from an identical user is regarded as a response of the multipath channel to the corresponding user's spreading sequence. The asymptotic efficiency of the path-by-path decorrelator is shown to drop rapidly as the number of simultaneous users increases. It is shown that the asymptotic efficiency can be made independent of the number of the propagation paths by the channel-matched decorrelator at the expense of requiring knowledge about the fading complex envelopes of all the propagation paths. The proposed joint multiuser detection and channel estimation scheme uses both path-by-path and channel-matched decorrelators. The path-by-path decorrelator is used for providing the channel estimator with the (noisy) channel information path-by-path, and decisions are made on the output of the channel-matched decorrelator. The decision results are fed back to the channel estimator, and used as the reference signals. The received complex envelope of each of the propagation paths is estimated in the channel estimator. Results of a series of exhaustive computer simulations are presented in order to demonstrate the overall performance of the proposed scheme, both in non-fading and fading multipath propagation environments     

Tunable wavelength filter using nano-sized droplets of liquidcrystal

An electrically tunable optical filter has been developed that uses a polymer containing fine droplets of nematic liquid crystal as the active cavity in a Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI). This FPI filter, whose finesse was 62, had a free spectral range of 37 nm in the 1.55-μm range with a full-width at half maximum of 0.6 nm and a transmission loss of 2.4 dB. The polarization dependent loss was smaller than 0.17 dB. The transmitted peak wavelength decreased with an electric field. This resulted in a tuning range of 10 nm at 300 V. The switching time was about 370 μs     

A complex baseband platform for spatial-temporal mobile radio channel simulations

Joint spatial-temporal signal processing has been recognized as the key to reducing the effects of the intersymbol and cochannel interference seen in very high bit-rate mobile radio communications systems. Developing hardware simulators that can simulate mobile radio propagation scenarios in time and space domains is essential for evaluating the real-time performance of spatial-temporal signal processing schemes. This paper outlines a complex baseband platform developed for spatial-temporal mobile radio channel simulations. The platform consists of a complex baseband fading/array response simulator, a digital signal processor (DSP) board, and a general-purpose parameter estimator that uses systolic array implementation of the recursive least square (RLS) algorithm. Results of experiments conducted using the developed platform are presented to confirm the proper operation of the system.     

Output and delay of multi-channel slotted ALOHA systems for integrated voice and data transmission

Packet-switched technology has been developed to offer personal communication services not only for data but also for different types of user-end equipment such as phone-type audio. To satisfy the huge service demand and multi-traffic requirements with limited bandwidth, this paper proposes an efficient procedure of multi-channel slotted ALOHA for integrated voice and data transmission in wireless information networks and presents an exact analysis with which to numerically evaluate the performance of the systems. A channel reservation policy is applied, where a number of channels (called reserved channels) are used exclusively by voice packets, while the remaining channels are used by both voice and data packets, and voice packets select the reserved channels with a given probability (called selection probability). Probability distributions for the numbers of voice and data departures and for the data packet delay are derived. Numerical results compare some cases with different numbers of channels, different numbers of reserved channels and different selection probabilities to discuss what effects they may have on channel utilization, loss probability, average packet delay, coefficient of variation of data packet delay, and correlation coefficient of packet departures. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Novel high-efficiency concentrator for optical fiber communication

A novel high-efficiency concentrator based on nonimaging optics has been designed and fabricated with micromachining technique. The shape of the concentrator utilizes compound parabolic concentrator (CPC), which can concentrate the all rays that have the angles less than a critical angle &thetas;_c. The theoretical concentration efficiency was calculated by ray trace simulation considering the reflectance of the concentrator's reflective layer. The metal reflection layer of reflectance 95% was formed by gold-nickel mirror plating method in a glass hole. As a result, the concentration efficiency of the concentrator was measured as 89%     

A high-precision low-voltage bipolar current mirror circuit and its compensation for stability

A current mirror circuit is widely utilized as an important building block in analogue signal processing circuits. This paper describes a high-precision low voltage bipolar current mirror circuit. Well known current mirror circuits, such as a simple current mirror and a Wilson current mirror, have a trade-off between low-voltage operation and accuracy of the current gain. The accuracy of the proposed current mirror is high in spite of low current amplification factor (β) of transistors and large current output (or a large number of the multiple output). The current mirror circuit can operate at a 1V or less supply voltage. The high accuracy is realized by negative current feedback with high gain. Thus, the stability of the circuit and compensation methods are discussed. PSPICE simulation shows that the proposed current mirror circuit compensated using Miller components composed of a capacitor and a resistor is stable and can operate at a 1V supply voltage.