Feed-forward digital phase compensation for long-distance precise frequency dissemination via fiber network.

We demonstrate precise microwave frequency dissemination of a hydrogen maser synchronized frequency comb over a 120 km commercial fiber link. The phase noise was compensated by a feed-forward digital compensation scheme, where the value of locally detected phase noise was first transmitted to the remote user end via a wavelength division multiplexing channel in the same fiber link and then compensated directly at the user end. The fractional frequency instability was measured to be at 5.28×10(-16)/s.

High-precision multi-node clock network distribution.

A high precision multi-node clock network for multiple users was built following the precise frequency transmission and time synchronization of 120 km fiber. The network topology adopts a simple star-shaped network structure. The clock signal of a hydrogen maser (synchronized with UTC) was recovered from a 120 km telecommunication fiber link and then was distributed to 4 sub-stations. The fractional frequency instability of all substations is in the level of 10-15 in a second and the clock offset instability is in sub-ps in root-mean-square average.

Simultaneously precise frequency transfer and time synchronization using feed-forward compensation technique via 120 km fiber link.

Precision time synchronization between two remote sites is desired in many applications such as global positioning satellite systems, long-baseline interferometry, coherent radar detection and fundamental physics constant measurements. The recently developed frequency dissemination technologies based on optical fiber link have improved the transfer instability to the level of 10(-19)/day at remote location. Therefore it is possible to keep clock oscillation at remote locations continuously corrected, or to reproduce a "virtual" clock on the remote location. However the initial alignment and the correction of 1 pps timing signal from time to time are still required, besides the highly stabilized clock frequency transfer between distant locations. Here we demonstrate a time synchronization based on an ultra-stable frequency transfer system via 120-km commercial fiber link by transferring an optical frequency comb. Both the phase noise compensation in frequency dissemination and temporal basis alignment in time synchronization were implemented by a feed-forward digital compensation (FFDC) technique. The fractional frequency instability was measured to be 6.18 × 10(-20) at 2000 s. The timing deviation of time synchronization was measured to be 0.6 ps in 1500 s. This technique also can be applied in multi-node fiber network topology.