A practical scheme to perform the fast Fourier transform in the optical domain is introduced. Optical real-time FFT signal processing is performed at speeds far beyond the limits of electronic digital processing, and with negligible energy consumption. To illustrate the power of the method we demonstrate an optical 400 Gbit/s OFDM receiver. It performs an optical real-time FFT on the consolidated OFDM data stream, thereby demultiplexing the signal into lower bit rate subcarrier tributaries, which can then be processed electronically.

Blade condition monitoring systems with fiber-optic sensors attract much attention because they are resistant to lightning strikes, a major issue with increasing blade lengths. However, fiber-optic sensor systems are more complex and more expensive than their electronic counterparts. We describe a new blade condition monitoring system, which combines the lightning safety of optical fibers with the reliability and cost-effectiveness of electronic sensors. The optical fibers transport data from the blades to the hub, and in addition, they provide the electrical power for operating the sensor units in the blades. To achieve full protection against lightning-induced electromagnetic fields, an appropriate shielding of the sensor units is required. We present results on the reliability of a newly developed prototype based on optically powered sensors. In a field trial, the unit monitored successfully the blade vibrations of a 1.5MW wind turbine for a period of 23months

A free-space optical delay interferometer (DI) featuring a continuously tunable time delay, polarization insensitive operation with high extinction ratios and accurate phase and time delay monitoring scheme is reported. The polarization dependence is actively mitigated by adjusting a birefringent liquid-crystal device. The DI has been tested for reception of D(m)PSK signals. ©2011 Optical Society of America

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