Hybrid electronic/optical synchronized chaos communication system

A hybrid electronic/optical system for synchronizing a chaotic receiver to a chaotic transmitter has been demonstrated. The chaotic signal is generated electronically and injected, in addition to a constant bias current, to a semiconductor laser to produce an optical carrier for transmission. The optical chaotic carrier is photodetected to regenerate an electronic signal for synchronization in a matched electronic receiver. The system has been successfully used for the transmission and recovery of a chaos masked message that is added to the chaotic optical carrier. Past demonstrations of synchronized chaos based, secure communication systems have used either an electronic chaotic carrier or an optical chaotic carrier (such as the chaotic output of various nonlinear laser systems). This is the first electronic/optical hybrid system to be demonstrated. We call this generation of a chaotic optical carrier by electronic injection. (c) 2009 Optical Society of America