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:
Jun. 03, 2003
Filed:
Nov. 25, 1998
Nortel Networks Limited, Montreal, CA;
Abstract
This invention provides method and apparatus for ancillary data in a wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) system. According to the invention, a low bit rate channel is provided over a amplitude modulated sub-carrier that is in turn used to amplitude intensity modulate an optical data signal that is output from a transmitter in the network. Data carried by the low bit rate channel can by used by another network element (NE) to determine the identity of the channel source, thereby allowing the NE to verify its connectivity to that source via the network. This invention is particularly useful in metropolitan optical networks (MON) where inexpensive methods of determining network connectivity are required.