In this project, three researchers, and a team of graduate students, from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), shall undertake theoretical and experimental investigations of data modulation schemes for efficient information transmission in conjunction with CDMA encoded ultrashort pulses in an optical fiber. Efficient modulation formats will result in aggregate transmission rates exceeding one terabit/second, with individual user rates on the order of 100-1000 megabit/second. The specific objectives of this project include modeling of the CDMA, statistical analysis of the transmitted waveforms, investigation of various CDMA codes that support thousands of users with minimal interference, bit error rate analysis of received signals for various modulation schemes, means to provide QOS levels, modeling and characterization of the distortions induced by the fiber channel, adaptive equalization techniques for reducing fiber distortions, computer simulations of the modulation schemes, and experimental evaluation of the modulation schemes, transmitter, optical channel, and receiver. The goal of this proposal is to demonstrate a prototype network with several users employing a modulation format which when scaled up to the full number of users will carry over one terabit per second of information.
The potential impact of the work will be in the proof that CDMA encoding of ultrashort pulses is a realizable and desirable alternative to wavelength division multiplexing (WDM).
