Optical channel monitor with built-in sensors for dynamic measurements

An optical communication system, comprising

• a multiport optical switch including a plurality of N input ports, N being an integer greater than one, and a single output port, each input port receiving a separate wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical input signal including a plurality of wavelength channels;
• an optical channel monitor (OCM) coupled to the single output port of the multiport optical switch for monitoring, in a sequence, the WDM optical input signal provided at each input port;
• and
• a band sensor coupled to the plurality of N input ports of the multiport optical switch for recognizing a change in optical power within a defined wavelength channel at any input port of the plurality of N input ports, the band sensor comprising
• a plurality of N wavelength filtering elements, each responsive to a separate WDM optical input signal at an associated input port, each wavelength filtering element providing as an output therefrom a plurality of band-limited optical signal spanning the plurality of wavelength channels within the associated WDM optical input signal;
• a plurality of sensing devices coupled to receive the plurality of band-limited optical signals from the plurality of N wavelength filtering elements in a one-to-one relationship, each sensing device configured to generate a first output if an incoming optical power is greater than a defined threshold and a second output if the incoming optical power is not greater than the defined threshold;
• and
• a monitor coupled to the plurality of sensing devices and configured to generate a scan control signal upon any of the sensing devices generating the second output, indicating a loss of optical power within the associated signal band at an identified input port.

An optical monitoring system comprising

• a set of individual optical channel monitors, each optical channel monitor configured to monitor a different wavelength range within an incoming broadband optical signal;
• and
• a band sensor responsive to the incoming broadband optical signal, the band sensor comprising:
• a wavelength filtering element responsive to the broadband optical input signal and creating as an output therefrom a plurality of band-limited optical signal spanning the complete wavelength range of the broadband optical input signal;
• a plurality of sensing devices coupled to receive the plurality of band-limited optical signals in a one-to-one relationship, each sensing device configured to generate a first output if an incoming optical power is greater than a defined threshold and a second output if the incoming optical power is not greater than the defined threshold;
• and
• a monitor coupled to the plurality of sensing devices and configured to recognize the second output from any sensing device of the plurality of sensing devices as a loss of power signal, and to identify an appropriate optical channel monitor from the set of individual optical channel monitors utilized for monitoring the wavelength range covering the loss of power band, the monitor also configured to transmit a scan control signal to the appropriate optical channel monitor, instructing the appropriate optical channel monitor to perform a complete wavelength scan of its associated wavelength range.

An optical sensor for recognizing a change in optical power within a defined wavelength band of a broadband optical input signal, the optical sensor comprising

• a wavelength filtering element responsive to the broadband optical input signal and creating as an output therefrom a plurality of band-limited optical signal spanning the wavelength range of the broadband optical input signal;
• a plurality of sensing devices coupled to receive the plurality of band-limited optical signals in a one-to-one relationship, each sensing device configured to generate a first output if an incoming optical power is greater than a defined threshold value and a second output if the incoming optical power is not greater than the defined threshold;
• and
• a monitor coupled to the plurality of sensing devices and configured to generate a scan control signal upon any of the sensing devices generating the second output, indicating a change in optical power within the associated signal band.