USE OF A SCANNING CHARGE-COUPLED PHOTODETECTOR FOR COMPRESSION OF OPTICAL SIGNALS WITH LINEAR WAVELENGTH MODULATION

An analysis is made of a processor for compression of optical signals with linear wavelength modulation. The processor system is equivalent to a diffraction spectrometer except that a linear charge-coupled phot odetector operating in a delay-and-add mode is inserted in its spectra l plane. By this means the processor isolates the signal from the nois e and is invariant to the signal arrival time, and it can be tuned by a simple electronic technique to select signals with a different rate of change in wavelength. The compression coefficient may be several th ousand. Other characteristics of the processor and its maximum capabil ities are discussed. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics. [S1063-78 50(97)01401-8].