Optical receiver and method of monitoring optical power of optical signal input thereto

Abstract

An optical receiver that receives a wavelength-multiplexed optical signal is disclosed. The optical receiver implements two or more PD elements each receiving an optical signal contained in the wavelength-multiplexed optical signal, a switch that selects one of photocurrents output from the PD elements, an I/V converter that converts the photocurrent into a voltage signal by a variable resistor whose resistance is adjusted for respective photocurrent, and a digital-to-analog converter. The optical receiver estimates the power of the optical signals from look-up-tables correlating the power of the optical signals with the digitally converted photocurrents at the selected resistance of the variable resistor.