Connection discovery for optical amplifier systems

A connection discovery system for discovering the existence of connections between at least one optical amplifier and at least one port of a device, each optical amplifier being capable of optically amplifying an incoming traffic signal as a function of an associated energy signal received from an energy source and being varied in accordance with a respective control signal, the system comprising:

• a receiver unit operable to receive an optical signal at each port in a subset of the at least one port;
• a detection unit operable to detect, for each port in the subset, each control signal present in the optical signal received at said port, each such control signal being a detected control signal for said port;
• and
• a controller operable to determine, for each port in the subset, the identity of each optical amplifier connected to said port on the basis of each detected control signal for said port and on the basis of the identity of the optical amplifier respectively associated with each detected control signal for said port.

A network element, comprising:

• at least one optical amplifier capable of optically amplifying an incoming traffic signal as a function of an associated energy signal;
• at least one energy source, each energy source being connected to a respective one of the at least one optical amplifier, each energy source being capable of generating the energy signal for the respective optical amplifier, each energy signal being variable in accordance with a respective control signal;
• and
• a connection discovery system having at least one port, the system comprising:
• a receiver unit operable to receive an optical signal at each port in a subset of the at least one port;
• a detection unit operable to detect, for each port in the subset, each control signal present in the optical signal received at said port, each such control signal being a detected control signal for said port;
• and a controller for determining, for each port in the subset, the identity of each optical amplifier connected to said port on the basis of each detected control signal for said port and on the basis of the identity of the optical amplifier respectively associated with each detected control signal for said port.

A method of discovering the existence of connections between devices in an optical system, the devices including at least one optical amplifier, each device being connected to respective input ports of a connection discovery system, each optical amplifier being capable of optically amplifying an incoming traffic signal as a function of an intensity of an associated energy signal received from an energy source, the method comprising:

• varying the energy signal associated with each optical amplifier in accordance with a respective control signal;
• receiving an optical signal at each port of the connection discovery system;
• searching for the presence of a control signal present in the optical signal received at each port;
• and
• if the same control signal is present in the optical signal received at each port in a particular set of ports, concluding that the devices connected to the particular set of ports are connected to one another.