Optical Source Power Efficiency via Amplifier Shifting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current WDM silicon-photonic links face challenges due to high power consumption and cost of multi-wavelength laser sources, which are essential for efficient communication, as existing lasers have low wall-plug efficiency and are expensive, making them unsuitable for future high-channel-count applications.
Innovation Solution
An optical source system comprising N light sources, an optical combiner, and K optical amplifiers, where the seed optical signal is amplified and distributed across M output waveguides, shifting the power efficiency from light sources to amplifiers, thereby reducing overall power consumption and cost.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If existing multi-wavelength laser sources are used for WDM optical signals, then communication bandwidth and channel count are improved, but power consumption and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the optical signal generation into separate functional components: N individual light sources generate N optical signals at different wavelengths, which are then combined by an optical combiner. This segmentation allows each light source to operate independently at lower power levels rather than requiring a single high-power multi-wavelength laser, thereby reducing total power consumption while maintaining high communication bandwidth through wavelength-division multiplexing
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an optical combiner as an intermediary component that merges N separate optical signals into a single combined optical signal. This intermediary enables the system to achieve multi-wavelength functionality without requiring a single complex multi-wavelength laser source, allowing each light source to operate efficiently at its optimal power level while collectively providing the desired high-bandwidth WDM capability
2Productivity
If existing multi-wavelength laser sources are used for WDM optical signals, then channel count is improved, but cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the multi-wavelength laser functionality into N separate light sources, each generating a single wavelength. This segmentation enables the use of simpler, lower-cost light source components rather than expensive multi-wavelength lasers, while the optical combiner integrates these signals to achieve the required high channel count for WDM applications
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses N copies of simpler light source components instead of a single complex multi-wavelength laser. Each light source is a standardized, lower-cost component that can be manufactured more easily, and the optical combiner integrates these copies to provide the multi-channel WDM functionality, thereby reducing overall system cost while maintaining high channel count
3Adaptability or versatility
If N light sources are used to provide N optical signals, then wavelength diversity is improved, but power efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges N separate optical signals from N light sources into a single combined optical signal using an optical combiner. This merging allows the system to achieve wavelength diversity through the combination of multiple wavelengths while the subsequent optical amplification efficiently boosts the combined signal, improving overall power efficiency by avoiding the need for N separate high-power laser sources and enabling more efficient energy utilization in the amplification stage
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration enables a compact, energy-efficient, and low-cost multi-wavelength optical source, facilitating high-speed communication in WDM silicon-photonic links by amortizing power efficiencies across multiple output waveguides, thereby reducing the overall power consumption and cost.
Implementation Method 1
a set of K optical amplifiers that amplify the seed optical signal and provide a set of M output optical signals
Implementation Method 2
the SOAs may include germanium layers evanescently coupled to the surface of the substrate
Implementation Method 3
an optical combiner that combines the set of N optical signals into a seed optical signal
Data Source
AI summary
An optical source includes a set of N light sources that provide a corresponding set of N optical signals having N carrier wavelengths. These optical signals are combined into a seed optical signal and transported to a substrate using an optical fiber. This substrate includes a set of K optical amplifiers that amplify the seed optical signal and provide a set of M output optical signals on a corresponding set of M output optical waveguides (where M is less than K). In this way, a total power of the set of M output optical signals may be significantly larger than that of the seed optical signal, thereby ensuring that a majority of a power efficiency of the optical source is associated with power efficiencies of the set of K optical amplifiers instead of power efficiencies of the set of N light sources.