The objective of this project is to advance the state-of-the-art in optical access networks. Project addresses the EU targets as defined by European Commission’s “Europe 2020” strategy for smart growth by focusing on research and development of highly-integrated and energy efficient optical transceivers and wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) components for next-generation of access and mobile backhaul networks using passive optical network (PON) infrastructure. The primary challenge, in wider adoption of WDM-PON, lies in the development of sufficiently low cost technology to be used at the users’ premises. Self-seeded WDM-PON has been actively investigated in recent years as potentially the lowest cost solution for next-generation access networks. The primary attraction of this architecture is its simplicity, lower power consumption, and cost advantage. Similar principles can be applied to multiplexing and interrogation systems for optical sensors and our aim is to develop, analyze and demonstrate sustainable all-optical infrastructure based on extended cavity resonators able to provide physical layer for both, access communication and sensor networks.

At University of Zagreb we invented an optical component, the modulation-averaging reflector, which reduces the penalty due to modulation of the seeding light and depolarizes the light oscillating in the cavity thereby stabilizing the extended resonator. This was the first step towards a future-proof optical access technology. Within this project we will fully develop and characterize systems based on extended cavity resonators with modulation averaging reflectors. We will also explore the use of modulation averaging concept in a novel communication optical source architecture based on wavelength re-use. 

Project title: Protection of intellectual property related to averaging light modulation, components and architecture of access networks that use modulation averaging

Project ID: BICRO PoC5_01_110

Leading institution: Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb

Duration: 9 months (started 1.1.2014.)

Project budget: 258.000,00 HRK

Project title: Averaging mirrors for passive optical networks based on self-seeded semiconductor optical amplifiers

Project ID: BICRO PoC2_01_10

Leading institution: Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb

Duration: 6 months (started 1.2.2011.)

Project budget: 337.000,00 HRK