Methods and apparatus for self healing of an optical transceiver in a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) system

An apparatus, comprising:

• a first optical transceiver having an electrical portion and an optical portion operatively coupled to the electrical portion of the first optical transceiver, the electrical portion including a switch, the first optical transceiver including a controller and a variable optical attenuator (VOA), the controller being operatively coupled to the switch and the VOA,
• the first optical transceiver configured to automatically identify a failure within the first optical transceiver,
• the controller configured to send a first control signal to the switch in response to the failure from at least one of a transmitter or a receiver of the first optical transceiver,
• the switch configured to receive a plurality of electrical signals associated with a first plurality of electrical transmitters, each electrical signal from the plurality of electrical signals uniquely associated with an electrical transmitter from the first plurality of electrical transmitters, the switch configured to switch an electrical signal from the plurality of electrical signals to a spare electrical transmitter within a second plurality of electrical transmitters such that the plurality of electrical signals are transmitted via the second plurality of electrical transmitters in response to the first control signal,
• the controller configured to send a second control signal to the VOA such that the VOA modulates with a signal representing control information for a second optical transceiver to be operatively coupled to the first optical transceiver, the control information associated with the failure within the first optical transceiver.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a first optical transceiver having an electrical portion and an optical portion operatively coupled to the electrical portion of the first optical transceiver, the electrical portion including a switch, the first optical transceiver including a controller and a variable optical attenuator (VOA), the controller being operatively coupled to the switch and the VOA,
• the controller configured to send a first control signal to the switch in response to a failure being detected in at least one of or between the first optical transceiver and a second optical transceiver to be operatively coupled to the first optical transceiver,
• the switch configured to receive a plurality of electrical signals associated with a first plurality of electrical transmitters, each electrical signal from the plurality of electrical signals uniquely associated with an electrical transmitter from the first plurality of electrical transmitters, the switch configured to switch an electrical signal from the plurality of electrical signals to a spare electrical transmitter within a second plurality of electrical transmitters such that the plurality of electrical signals are transmitted via the second plurality of electrical transmitters in response to the first control signal,
• the controller configured to send a second control signal to the VOA such that the VOA modulates with a signal representing control information for the second optical transceiver, the control information associated with the failure in the at least one of or between the first optical transceiver and the second optical transceiver.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a first optical transceiver having a first plurality of electrical transmitters operatively coupled to a switch, each electrical transmitter from the first plurality of electrical transmitters configured to transmit an electrical signal from a plurality of electrical signals,
• the switch configured to switch an electrical signal from the plurality of electrical signals to a spare electrical transmitter within a second plurality of electrical transmitters such that the plurality of electrical signals are output via the second plurality of electrical transmitters,
• each electrical transmitter from the first plurality of electrical transmitters operatively coupled to an optical transmitter from a plurality of optical transmitters, the plurality of optical transmitters being operatively coupled to an optical multiplexer,
• at least one electrical transmitter from the first plurality of electrical transmitters associated with a failure within the first optical transceiver,
• the first optical transceiver includes an optical tap, an optical detector operatively coupled to the optical tap, and a controller operatively coupled to the optical detector,
• the optical tap configured to receive a portion of an optical signal from a second optical transceiver, the optical detector configured to detect the optical signal to produce a detected signal, the controller configured to decode the detected signal to extract an encoded signal from the electrical signal and associated with the failure.