Control apparatus and control method for optical modulator

A control method for an optical modulator that comprises:

• an optical modulation section including a part for branching an optical waveguide into a first branch optical waveguide and a second branch optical waveguide, and a part for combining said first and second branch optical waveguides, and utilizing a first electrode and a second electrode respectively provided in said first and second branch optical waveguides to control refractive indexes of said first and second branch optical waveguides, and obtaining a periodic optical intensity characteristic according to a difference between the refractive indexes;
• a drive section that gives a drive signal to at least one of said first and second electrodes so that said optical modulation section performs a modulating operation corresponding to one period of the optical intensity characteristic thereof;
• and
• a bias supply section that supplies a DC bias to said optical modulation section to adjust an operating point,
• wherein said control method comprises:
• detecting a change in the signal light output from said optical modulation section, by acquiring the optical spectrum of a signal light output from said optical modulation section, and extracting from said optical spectrum an optical frequency component matched to the central optical frequency of said signal light, to detect an optical power of said optical frequency component;
• judging the operating point deviation of said optical modulation section according to the detected optical power of said optical frequency component;
• and
• controlling said bias supply section so as to minimize said operating point deviation.

A control apparatus for an optical modulator that comprises:

• an optical modulation section including a branched optical waveguide;
• a drive section that provides a drive signal to the optical modulation section;
• and
• a bias supply section that supplies a bias to the optical modulation section to adjust an operating point,
• wherein said control apparatus comprises:
• an output monitoring section that detects a change in the signal light output from the optical modulation section, wherein the output monitoring section acquires the optical spectrum of a signal light output from the optical modulation section, and extracts from the optical spectrum an optical frequency component matched to the central optical frequency of the signal light, to detect an optical power of the optical frequency component;
• and
• a control section that judges the operating point deviation of the optical modulation section according to the optical power detected by the output monitoring section, and controls the bias supply section so as to minimize the operating point deviation.