Multi-rate asynchronous sampling of bandwidth-limited signals

Abstract

We demonstrate experimentally an optical system for under-sampling several bandwidth limited signals with carrier frequencies that are not known apriori that can be located anywhere within a very broad frequency region between 0-18 GHz. The system is based on under-sampling asynchronously at three different sampling rates. The pulses required for the under-sampling are generated by a combination of an electrical comb generator and an electro-absorption modulator. To reduce loss and improve performance the implementation of the optical system is based on a wavelength division multiplexing technique. An accurate reconstruction of both the phase and the amplitude of the signals was obtained when two chirped signals generated simultaneously were sampled.