Patent · US Expired

Method of fast gain control in WDM optical networks

US5900968A · kind A · utility

44Cited by
6References
6Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 10, 1996
Grant dateMay 4, 1999
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 10, 2016

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04J14/0221
  • WIPO fieldTelecommunications
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

In a WDM network employing a plurality of optical amplifiers in at least one optical fiber link, a system and method for dynamically controlling gain in accordance with the collective behavior of the amplifier chain. According to the present invention, the required response time of dynamic gain control is selected substantially inversely relative to the number of amplifiers in the communication path. Illustratively, in a large-scale optical network (with signal channel paths traversing say, a hundred optical amplifiers), the response time of gain control in accordance with the present invention may be on the order of 5 .mu.s or even less.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.