Novel approach to optical frequency synthesis in coherent lightwave systems

This paper proposes and analyses a novel technique to generate a set of optical carriers from an optical reference comb of frequencies. This is achieved by using an optical phase or frequency locked loop as an optical frequency synthesiser. Theoretical models and practical results are presented. The implementation of such a technique is described in the context of an VFDM photonic MAN currently under development. The paper concludes with the merits of both loop designs being considered and contrasted.© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.