US Patent 7310482 Optical wavelength conversion for phase-modulated optical signals

An optical communication system comprises a first optical interface, an optical processing system, and a second optical interface. The first optical interface receives an optical signal that is phase-modulated and has a first wavelength. The optical processing system converts the first wavelength of the optical signal to a second wavelength that is different from the first wavelength without converting the optical signal into an electrical format. The second optical interface transfers the optical signal that is phase-modulated and has the second wavelength.