Identifying and monitoring connections in an optical system

A source optical device comprising:

• a plurality of optical ports configured to receive a plurality of optical links that couple with one or more remote optical devices;
• a light source that generates monitor signals of a reference wavelength;
• at least one sending optical element configured to direct the monitor signals into transmission paths from the source optical device to the one or more remote optical devices over the plurality of optical links, wherein the one or more remote optical devices include one or more remote optical elements that return the monitor signals to the source optical device over a corresponding optical link of the plurality of optical links;
• a photodetector;
• at least one receiving optical element configured to direct returned monitor signals received over the plurality of optical links to the photodetector;
• at least one microprocessor configured to execute control instructions to generate the monitor signals and process one or more outputs of the photodetector in response to the returned monitor signals to determine connectivity of the plurality of optical links;
• and
• an identification mechanism configured to generate outgoing identification (ID) signals and receive returned ID signals that allow identification of the plurality of optical links,
• wherein:
• the light source generates the outgoing ID signals as a set of ID wavelengths;
• the at least one microprocessor is configured to identify the plurality of optical links based on the returned ID signals;
• and
• the one or more remote optical elements direct the outgoing ID signals through a set of wavelength division multiplexer (WDM) filters and returns the outgoing ID signals as the returned ID signals to the source optical device over a corresponding optical link of the plurality of optical links.