Optical network using optical amplifier in gain saturation region

An optical network comprising:

• an optical transmission apparatus,
• wherein the optical transmission apparatus comprises:
• an optical transmitter configured to output an optical signal;
• an SOA configured to amplify the optical signal outputted through the optical transmitter;
• and
• a controller configured to control an optical output of the optical transmitter and an operating condition of the SOA based on gain saturation of the SOA, and
• the gain saturation of the SOA is determined based on ASE noise of the SOA.

An optical transmission method in an optical network, the method comprising:

• distributing an optical signal including ASE noise outputted by an optical transmitter and amplified through an SOA using a first optical distributer;
• distributing a partial output of the first optical distributer using a second optical distributer;
• measuring a first optical power of a first optical signal outputted through the second optical distributer to include the ASE noise;
• filtering a second optical signal outputted through the second optical distributer using an optical filter;
• measuring a second optical power of the second optical signal from which the ASE noise is filtered by the optical filter;
• and
• determining gain saturation of the SOA using the first optical power and the second optical power.