Ultrahigh-speed optical transmission technology, such as optical time domain multiplexing or optical signal processing is a key point for increasing the communication capacity. The system performances are strongly related to pulse properties. We present an original method dedicated to short pulse-shape characterization with high repetition rate using standard optical telecommunications equipments. Its principle is based on temporal measurement of the contrast produced by the beating of two delayed optical pulses in a highbandwidth photodetector. This technique returns firstly reliable informations on the pulse-shape, such as pulsewidth, shape and pedestal. Simulation and experimental results evaluate the high-sensitivity and the high-resolution of the technique allowing the measurement of pulse extinction ratio up to 20 dB with typical timing resolution of about 100 fs. The compatibility of the technique with high repetition rate pulse measurement offers an efficient tool for short pulse analysis.
