Nortel Networks Corporation

Paul A Bruce

Tom M Luk

Andrew John Bryant

Mark Acton Gibbon

Martin Agnew

An optical amplifier arrangement comprises a splitter for providing an input WDM optical signal on at least first and second output paths. An optical amplifier is provided in at least one of the paths, and a signal routing arrangement is provided for routing individual channels or groups of channels of the WDM signal within the at least one of the paths. A switch selects the signal from one of the at least first and second output paths. In this arrangement, there are two paths between the input and output. Whilst one path is being used, the components in the other path can be upgraded. For example, a switching arrangement may be provided in the other path, and an amplifier may also be upgraded, without disrupting service in the path in use. This enables an amplifying node within an optical communications system to be incrementally upgraded.

Optical amplifier arrangement

The invention provides a method and apparatus for efficiently regenerating an incoming data signal at a sampling point which is continually optimized independently of the regeneration process. While the incoming data signal is being regenerated in a regeneration unit, the invention uses a monitoring unit for concurrently optimizing the slicing threshold and sampling phase used in the regeneration unit without disturbing the on-going data regeneration. The invention uses a master-slave arrangement to regenerate the incoming data signal whereby the regenerating unit is updated with a new slicing threshold and sampling phase only after the new slicing threshold and sampling phase are fully optimized by the monitoring unit. In this way, the data regeneration can proceed unaffected by the optimization of the slicing threshold and sampling phase which, as a result can be continuously optimized without inducing any errors into the regenerated data.

Growing community of inventors

Bishops Stortford, United Kingdom

Paul A Bruce