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AssigneeAT&T Corp.
InventorsAlan H. Gnauck, Leonard Henri Spiekman, Jay M. Wiesenfeld
Estimating the term…
A system and method is provided for minimizing power fluctuations and crosstalk in a wavelength division multiplexed optical (WDM) network employing dynamic add/drop techniques by utilizing amplifiers operating in a nearly linear region. Conventionally, erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) are operated in saturation for providing signal amplification in a WDM network. Instead of using saturated EDFAs, the present invention includes optical amplifiers operated in a linear or nearly linear regime for providing signal amplification in a dynamic add/drop or bursty data WDM network. By operating optical amplifiers in a linear or nearly linear regime, power fluctuations, transients and crosstalk caused by adding/dropping or switching channels in the WDM network are minimized. Raman amplifiers, EDFAs, or semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) can all be operated in a linear or nearly linear range to provide linear amplification in such a dynamic add/drop or bursty data WDM network.
A method of transmitting at least one wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) optical signal comprising at least one through channel and a switched channel in an optical network including at least one optical amplifier, the method comprising:
An WDM optical network operable to dynamically add/drop one or more channels from a WDM optical signal, the optical network comprising:
A method of transmitting at least one WDM optical signal in an optical network, the optical signal comprising a first channel, a second channel, and at least one optical amplifier, the method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.