System and method for optical heterodyne detection of an optical signal

An optical heterodyne detection system includes an optical pre-selector (214; 814) that has an adjustable passband which is adjusted to track the wavelength of a swept local oscillator signal. In an embodiment, an input signal (202) is combined with a swept local oscillator signal (206) and the combined optical signal is filtered by the optical pre-selector (214). In another embodiment, the input signal (802) is filtered by the optical pre-selector (814) before the input signal and the swept local oscillator signal (806) are combined. Filtering the input signal or the combined input signal and the swept local oscillator signal to pass a wavelength band that tracks the wavelength of the swept local oscillator signal reduces the noise contributed from WDM signals and increases the dynamic range of the optical heterodyne detection system. An embodiment of the optical heterodyne detection system includes an optical combining unit (210), an optical pre-selector (214) for the combined input and swept local oscillator signals, and a photodetector (212). Another embodiment of the optical heterodyne detection system includes an optical pre-selector (814) for the input signal, an optical combining unit (810), and a photodetector (812).