Adding OSNR monitoring functionality on AWG based power monitoring circuits

Abstract

We have developed a simple scheme to implement optical signal to noise ratio (OSNR) monitoring on planar waveguide or arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) based channel power monitoring circuits. Simulation and experiment have demonstrated that our proposal will yield better OSNR monitoring range comparing with traditional tunable filter solutions. The combination of AWG and periodic notch filter makes it more immune to neighbor channel influence, and further improves the OSNR monitoring accuracy.