Broadband tunable optical amplifier

An optical amplifier for amplifying optical signals along a transmission path, said optical amplifier comprising:

• a tunable laser, tunable over at least a scanning frequency range that is related to amplification of frequencies of said optical signals;
• a gain medium along said transmission path, for receiving optical energy from said tunable laser and providing said optical energy to said optical signals;
• a coupler for coupling said tunable laser to said gain medium;
• and
• a control system for controlling a frequency of said tunable laser to periodically scan over said scanning frequency range.

A method of optically amplifying optical signals, said method comprising:

• determining frequencies of at least selected signals of said optical signals;
• determining a pumping frequency range for amplifying said selected signals;
• and
• controlling a tunable pump source optically connected with said optical signals to periodically scan over said pumping frequency range.

An optical amplifier for amplifying an optical signal along a transmission path, said amplifier comprising:

• a first tunable laser, which is tunable over a first predetermined frequency range;
• a second tunable laser, which is tunable over a second predetermined frequency range;
• a gain medium along said transmission path;
• a coupler for optically coupling said first tunable laser and said second tunable laser to said gain medium;
• a detector to detect at least one characteristic of said optical signal;
• an optical splitter to provide at least a portion of said optical signal to said detector;
• and
• a controller for controlling frequencies of said first tunable laser and said second tunable laser, said controller in communication with said detector and operable to control said frequencies of said first tunable laser and said second tunable laser based on said at least one characteristic to provide controlled amplification of said optical signal.

A computer readable medium containing computer executable instructions for optically amplifying optical signals, which, when operating in a processor, cause the processor to perform the functions of:

• determining frequencies of at least selected signals of said optical signals;
• determining a pumping frequency range for amplifying said selected signals;
• and
• controlling a tunable pump source optically connected with said optical signals to periodically scan over said pumping frequency range.