Sampling device with time-interleaved optical clocking

摘要

A sampling device comprising a first input port and a second input port, wherein an input-signal is fed to the first input port and wherein an optical clock signal is fed to the second input port. The sampling device comprises a plurality of track and hold units, wherein each of the plurality of track and hold units is connected to the first input port. The plurality of the track and hold units is further connected to the second input port through an optical waveguide in such a manner that the plurality of tack and hold units operate in a time-interleaved mode.

主权项

1. An apparatus comprising:
a first input port and a second input port, wherein the first input port is configured to receive an input signal and wherein the second input port is configured to receive an optical clock signal; and a plurality of track and hold units, wherein each of the plurality of track and hold units is connected to the first input port, and wherein the plurality of track and hold units are connected to the second input port through an optical waveguide in such a manner that the plurality of track and hold units are configured to operate in a time-interleaved mode; and wherein the optical waveguide is arranged in a tree-structure, wherein a root-node is connected to the second input port and each of a plurality of end-nodes is connected to a respective one of the track and hold units, and wherein the optical waveguide comprises at least one delay unit configured to delay the optical clock signal in a manner whereby each of the plurality of track and hold units captures the input signal at a different time, wherein the optical waveguide comprises N−1 optical power dividers, wherein N is the number of the plurality of the track and hold units, and wherein each optical power divider splits the optical waveguide into a first branch and a second branch, and wherein the N−1 optical power dividers are arranged in series in a manner whereby each optical power divider is connected to the second branch of a respective previous optical power divider, and the first optical power divider is connected to the second input port and the first branch of the N−1 optical power dividers is connected to a respective track and hold unit.