Communication systems and methods

• US 10,291,326 B2
• Filed: 09/26/2016
• Issued: 05/14/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Glatfelter, John William, Hernandez, Michael Kevin
• Primary Examiner(s): Woldekidan, Hibret A
• Application Number:
  US15/276,262
• Publication Number:
  US 20180091226A1
• Time in Patent Office: 960 Days
• Field of Search: 398182, 398183, 398190, 398191, 398 98, 398193, 398140, 398 25
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/25891 Transmission components H04B10/40 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/524 Pulse modulation
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/572 Wavelength control
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/02 Wavelength-division multiplex systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0257 Wavelength assignment algorithms

Abstract

In an example, a method of communication includes receiving a data set comprising a plurality of data items, and analyzing the data set to determine a plurality of distinct data values of the plurality of data items. The method also includes associating, based on the analysis of the data set, each distinct data value with a respective wavelength among a plurality of wavelengths. The method further includes transmitting each data item, one data item at a time, as an optical signal at the wavelength associated with the distinct data value of the data item.

Claims

1. A method of communication comprising:

receiving a data set comprising a plurality of data items;

analyzing the data set to determine a plurality of distinct data values of the plurality of data items;

associating, based on the analysis of the data set, each distinct data value with a respective wavelength among a plurality of wavelengths;

generating a data-to-wavelength map that indicates for each distinct data value, on a per distinct data value basis, the respective wavelength associated with the distinct data value; and

transmitting each data item, one data item at a time, as an optical signal at the wavelength associated with the distinct data value of the data item.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the data set comprises determining a frequency of occurrence of each distinct data value in the data set, and

wherein associating each distinct data value with the respective wavelength comprises generating the data-to-wavelength map based on the determined frequency of occurrence of each distinct data value.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising transmitting the data-to-wavelength map.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of distinct data values comprises a range of values represented by a quantity of binary bits.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the quantity of binary bits is eight such that each distinct data value corresponds to a respective byte value.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting each data item comprises transmitting a pulse of electromagnetic energy from an electromagnetic radiation (EMR) source for each data item.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of wavelengths comprises a range of wavelengths from 1260 nm to 1675 nm.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the plurality of wavelengths further comprises another range of wavelengths from 420 nm to 700 nm.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of distinct data values comprise a plurality of text characters.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the plurality of distinct data values further comprise a text string, wherein the text string comprises two or more of the plurality of text characters.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of distinct data values comprise a character set of a language, and wherein associating each distinct data value with the respective wavelength comprises:

mapping the character set to the plurality of wavelengths such that each character of the character set is represented by at least one of the plurality of wavelengths; and

encrypting the mapping of the character set to the plurality of wavelengths such that an alphabetic order of the character set is mapped to the plurality of wavelengths in a non-sequential order of the plurality of wavelengths.

12. A communication system comprising:

an electromagnetic radiation (EMR) source configured to transmit a plurality of optical signals at a plurality of wavelengths;

a non-transitory computer readable media configured to store a data set comprising a plurality of data items; and

a processor configured to;

analyze the data set to determine a plurality of distinct data values of the plurality of data items,

associate, based on the analysis of the data set, each distinct data value with a respective wavelength among the plurality of wavelengths, and

cause the EMR source to transmit each data item, one data item at a time, at the wavelength associated with the distinct data value of the data item,

wherein at least one data item of data set has a different quantity of bits than at least another data item of the data set.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising an optical fiber coupled to the EMR source,

wherein the EMR source is configured to transmit, over the optical fiber, each data item as a pulse of electromagnetic energy at the wavelength associated with the distinct data value of the data item.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein, to analyze the data set, the processor is configured to determine a frequency of occurrence of each distinct data value in the data set,

wherein, to associate each distinct data value with the respective wavelength, the processor is configured to generate a data-to-wavelength map based on the determined frequency of occurrence of each distinct data value, and

wherein the data-to-wavelength map indicates for each distinct data value, on a per distinct data value basis, the respective wavelength associated with the distinct data value.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the processor is configured to cause the EMR source to transmit the data-to-wavelength map.

16. A method of communication comprising:

receiving a plurality of data sets, wherein each data set comprises a respective plurality of data items; and

for each data set;

analyzing the data set to determine a plurality of distinct data values of the data set,

associating, based on the analysis of the data set, each distinct data value of the data set with a respective wavelength among a plurality of wavelengths, and

transmitting each data item of the data set, one data item at a time, as an optical signal at the wavelength associated with the distinct data value of the data item, and

generating a data-to-wavelength map that indicates for each distinct data value, on a per distinct data value basis, the respective wavelength associated with the distinct data value;

wherein at least two data sets of the plurality of data sets include at least one data item, which is (i) of the same distinct data value and (ii) associated with a different wavelength of the plurality of wavelengths, and

wherein the data-to-wavelength map is different for the at least two data sets of the plurality of data sets.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the plurality of distinct data values of the plurality data sets comprise a first set of distinct data values and a second set of distinct data values,

wherein the first set of distinct data values is statically associated with a first portion of the plurality of wavelengths for the plurality of data sets, and

wherein the second set of distinct data values is dynamically associated with a second portion of the plurality of wavelengths for each data set, on a data set by data set basis, based on the analysis of the data set.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein analyzing the data set comprises determining a frequency of occurrence of each distinct data value in the data set, and

wherein associating each distinct data value with the respective wavelength comprises generating the data-to-wavelength map based on the determined frequency of occurrence of each distinct data value.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising transmitting the data-to-wavelength map.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the plurality of distinct data values comprise a plurality of text characters and a text string, wherein the text string comprises two or more of the plurality of text characters.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the plurality of distinct data values comprise a plurality of text characters from a plurality of different languages.

22. The method of claim 16, further comprising, for each data set, processing the plurality of data items of the data set using a compression algorithm to determine a plurality of compressed data items,

wherein, for each data set, analyzing the data set to determine the plurality of distinct data values of the data set comprises analyzing the data set based on the plurality of compressed data items to determine the plurality of distinct data values.