The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 22, 2002
Filed:
Nov. 15, 2000
Onetta Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
Optical amplifiers are provided for use in fiber-optic communications networks. An optical amplifier may be controlled to prevent gain transients. The optical amplifier may use a spectrally-filtered input power tap to monitor input power. Amplifier gain may be controlled based on the monitored spectrally-filtered input power. Gain may be provided using one or more rare-earth-doped fiber coils such as erbium-doped fiber coils. The coils may be pumped by laser diodes or other suitable pumps. The optical output power of the pumps may be controlled by a control unit. The control unit may calculate the appropriate pump power for the pumps to supply to the fiber coils based on the measured spectrally-filtered input power of the amplifier. The output power of the amplifier may also be measured. A combination of feed-forward and feedback techniques may be used to calculate the pump power to be supplied by the pumps.