Optical amplifier using wavelength converter

An optical amplifier comprising:

• a first wavelength converter coupled to receive an optical signal, and which converts a first wavelength band to a second wavelength band;
• an optical amplifier coupled to the wavelength converter and which amplifies wavelengths in the second wavelength band;
• and
• a second wavelength converter coupled to the optical amplifier and which converts the second wavelength band to the first wavelength band, wherein the first band is S-band, and the second band is C-band.

An optical amplifier comprising:

• a first wavelength converter coupled to receive an optical signal, and which converts a first wavelength band to a second wavelength band;
• an optical amplifier coupled to the wavelength converter and which amplifies wavelengths in the second wavelength band;
• and
• a second wavelength converter coupled to the optical amplifier and which converts the second wavelength band to the first wavelength band, wherein each of the wavelength converters converts between the S-band and C-band.

An optical amplifier arrangement comprising two stages, the first stage comprising:

• a first demultiplexer adapted to receive an optical signal;
• a first wavelength converter coupled to the demultiplexer and which converts wavelengths in a first band to a second band;
• an optical amplifier coupled to the first wavelength converter and which amplifies wavelengths in the second band;
• and
• a first multiplexer coupled to the optical amplifier;
• the second stage comprising;
• a second demultiplexer coupled optically to the first multiplexer;
• a second wavelength converter coupled to the second demultiplexer and which converts wavelengths in the second band to the first band;
• and
• a second multiplexer coupled to the second wavelength converter.

An optical amplifier comprising:

• a demultiplexer adopted to receive an optical signal;
• a first wavelength converter coupled to the demultiplexer and which converts wavelengths in a first band to a second band;
• an optical amplifier coupled to the first wavelength converter and which amplifies wavelengths in the second band;
• a second wavelength converter coupled to the demultiplexer and which converts wavelengths in the second band to the first band;
• and
• a multiplexer coupled to the optical amplifier and to the second wavelength converter.

A method of amplifying an optical signal, comprising the acts of:

• providing the optical signal in a first band;
• optically converting the optical signal to a second band;
• optically amplifying the converted signal;
• and
• optically converting the amplified signal to the first band;
• wherein the first band is one of the C-band or S-band and the second band is the other of the C-band or S-band.