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:
May. 13, 2003
Filed:
May. 21, 1999
Thomas D. Stephens, Columbia, MD (US);
Mark A. Kelty, Catonsville, MD (US);
Alistair J. Price, Columbia, MD (US);
Corvis Corporation, Columbia, MD (US);
Abstract
Optical systems of the present invention generally include an optical signal controller disposed along an optical link between two optical nodes. The optical signal controller is configured to provide a monitoring signal from an optical signal passing between the nodes as a plurality of wavelength sub-bands at least one of which includes a plurality of signal channels. The controller generates a compensating channel having an optical power that is a function of the monitoring signal power in the plurality of wavelength sub-bands or total power. The compensating channel is combined with the optical signal to compensate for power variations in the optical signal passing between the nodes. In addition, the compensating channels can be used to transmit communication or system supervisory information between monitoring points and/or nodes in the system.