Cooler-less Dense Wavelength Division Multiplex Sources

Completed

Energy Efficiency(Other)

Basic and strategic applied research

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Electrical and Electronic Engineering)

Not Cross-cutting

Professor A Seeds
Electronic and Electrical Engineering
University College London

Standard

EPSRC

01 March 2005

31 May 2006

15 months

£52,169

Systems engineering

London

Information & Communication Technology

Professor A Seeds, Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University College London

Dr C Renaud, University College London

There is a rapidly growing market for low cost wavelength division multiplex (WDM) data communication systems, with manufacturers reporting 2003 sales growth in this market segment of up to 35%. Current products offer only a few widely spaced wavelengths, coarse WDM (CWDM), because of the wavelength drift with temperature of the lasers used. Temperature control by Peltier coolers, with wavelength control loops, as used in long distance telecommunications systems, is unacceptable due tothehigh cost and high power consumption (several Watts per laser). A new technique to reduce cost and power consumption for laser diode-based dense wavelength division multiplex (DWDM) sources , by controlling their output wavelength without the need for temperature control, has been developed and permits closely spaced wavelengths (DWDM) with resulting increased systems capacity and dramatically reduced cost. Thus, this technique has great commercial potential The project will concentrate on building a packaged prototype system and evaluating its market potential

01/01/07