RF Pilot Tone Based Photonic Pattern Recognition

In this paper a novel technique to perform photonic pattern recognition using RF pilot tones is proposed. To improve the detection sensitivity, the detection of matched and mismatched condition is done in electrical domain. The reference bit patterns are represented by RF pilot tones on optical wavelengths. Different wavelengths are modulated with both reference and input bit patterns using Mach Zehnder Modulator and then passed through a Highly Nonlinear Fiber (HNLF). Due to the nonlinear properties of the HNLF, new frequency components will be generated by RF pilot tones. A matched pattern is designated by detecting a unique RF frequency which is the summation of RF pilot tones at the photodetector (PD). We demonstrate a matched filter which provides high signal to noise ratio (SNR) and high contrast between matched and mismatched conditions.