Patent · US Expired

Methods for equalizing WDM systems

US6115157A · kind A · utility

69Cited by
2References
19Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 24, 1997
Grant dateSep 5, 2000
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 24, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04J2203/006
  • WIPO fieldTelecommunications
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method of equalizing the channels of a WDM link comprises identifying an error threshold level BER.sub.Fail for the BER defined for each signal S(j) in accordance with the channel rate, and determining the attenuation A(j) of, for example, the power P(j) of each signal S(j) transmitted over the WDM link. The transmitter powers are adjusted taking into account the attenuations determined for all channels. The attenuation A(j) for channel (j) is determined by first setting the power P(j) of all signals S(j) to a maximum P.sub.Max, attenuating the power P(j) of channel (j) until the BER reaches the threshold value BER.sub.Fail, measuring the power corresponding to the BER.sub.Fail for that channel, and calculating the difference between the P.sub.Max and P(j).sub.Fail. The transmitter powers are then set according to the relationship P(j)=P.sub.Max -.eta.(A(j)-A.sub.Min), where .eta. is 0.8 for a system with 3-4 channels. The method may be used for multi-channel systems with intermediate nodes where channels are added and dropped.

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