Lightwave system using microwave subcarrier multiplexing

Abstract

We present a demonstration of subcarrier multiplexing in a lightwave multiple-access network. Three 44 Mbit/s digital signals are transmitted along a single-mode fibre bus by intensity-modulating two 1.3 μ-wavelength, multimode laser diodes with FSK subcarriers, at frequencics between 3.5 and 4.0 GHz. Intermodulation distotion, generated when two or more subcarriers are transmitted by the same laser, does not degrade the tranmission quality.