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:
Dec. 26, 2006
Filed:
Aug. 11, 2003
Daniel C. Kilper, Rumson, NJ (US);
Juerg Leuthold, Eatontown, NJ (US);
Philipp Vorreau, Lincroft, NJ (US);
Daniel C. Kilper, Rumson, NJ (US);
Juerg Leuthold, Eatontown, NJ (US);
Philipp Vorreau, Lincroft, NJ (US);
Lucent Technologies Inc., Murray Hill, NJ (US);
Abstract
An optical device having a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) coupled to an optical filter, which device may be used for optical performance monitoring. One embodiment of the invention provides an optical regenerator/monitor (RM), in which an SOA is used both for optical regeneration of a communication signal applied to the RM and for evaluation of the quality of that signal. The RM has (i) a 2R regenerator, which includes the SOA and an optical filter, and (ii) a relatively simple signal processor configured to receive optical signals from two or more sampling points located at the regenerator. In one configuration, the processor evaluates the quality of the communication signal by comparing optical power tapped from the input and output of the regenerator. The RM, so configured, can be used, for example, to monitor chromatic dispersion and/or optical noise in the communication signal. Advantageously, a single RM of the invention can perform network functions of two separate prior-art devices, a regenerator and an optical performance monitor.