US Patent 8676060 Quadrature amplitude modulation signal generating device

A quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signal generator, which can obtain optical signals such as QAM signals without handling multilevel electrical signals, can be produced by using a plurality of parallel Mach-Zehnder modulators (MZMs), such as quadruplex parallel MZMs (QPMZM). The quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signal generator includes a first waveguide, a first quadrature phase-shift-keying (QPSK) signal generator provided on the first waveguide, a second waveguide connected with the first waveguide at a wave-combining point, and a second quadrature phase-shift-keying (QPSK) signal generator provided on the second waveguide.