US Patent 7343095 Optical interleaver

An optical interleaver comprising a first optical 3×3 coupler for receiving a broadband optical signal at one input port thereof, a second 3×3 optical coupler, three differential delay lines connected in parallel port-to-port between output ports of the first optical 3×3 coupler and input ports of the second optical 3×3 coupler, an infinite impulse response (IIR) element disposed in each of two of the delay lines, and wherein optical signals travelling in the respective delay lines interfere at the second 3×3 coupler to produce three frequency shifted transmission channel output signals at respective output ports of the second 3×3 coupler.