Abstract: In one embodiment, a control method, according to which a cascade of control messages is propagated between nodes of an optically transparent network, with each message being sent from a node to an adjacent downstream node to inform the latter about a control operation scheduled to be performed at the message-sending node and/or an upstream node that impacts an optical communication signal received at that downstream node. The cascade of control messages effectively creates an ad hoc control domain, in which control operations performed at various nodes of that domain can be coordinated to reduce unfavorable interactions between those control operations. By repeatedly propagating appropriate cascades of control messages through the network, control domains can be changed dynamically and adaptively to reflect any changes to the network topology, equipment, and/or traffic distribution.

Abstract: An optical data signal can be sampled by linearly combining the optical data signal with optical sampling pulses, and delivering the combination to first and second balanced detectors. The optical data signal and the optical sampling pulse are configured to have a first phase difference at the first balanced detector and a second phase difference at the second balanced detector. Typically, a difference between the first phase difference and the second phase difference is configured to be about 90 degrees. In-phase and quadrature balanced detector outputs can be combined as a sum of squares to produce a linear sampling signal representative of data signal intensity, and the sample pulses can be configured to temporally step through the optical data signal so that a sampled representation of the optical data signal is obtained.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a control method, according to which a cascade of control messages is propagated between nodes of an optically transparent network, with each message being sent from a node to an adjacent downstream node to inform the latter about a control operation scheduled to be performed at the message-sending node and/or an upstream node that impacts an optical communication signal received at that downstream node. The cascade of control messages effectively creates an ad hoc control domain, in which control operations performed at various nodes of that domain can be coordinated to reduce unfavorable interactions between those control operations. By repeatedly propagating appropriate cascades of control messages through the network, control domains can be changed dynamically and adaptively to reflect any changes to the network topology, equipment, and/or traffic distribution.

Abstract: A channel-growth plan for an optical transmission system selects channels such that the transients that result in the channels that survive a network failure, such as an upstream fiber cut, are either minimized or effectively handled by some transient-control technique. In one embodiment, the growth plan may try to keep post-transient surviving channel total power gain equal to the pre-transient total power gain. Alternatively, the growth plan may try to distribute the surviving channels uniformly over the pre-transient channel-frequency range. Other manifestations are to keep (1) the average power of the surviving channels substantially equal to the average power of the pre-transient channels or (2) the average power of the post-transient surviving channels substantially equal to the power level of a specified channel. Transient-control can be balanced with conventional low-cost and high-performance goals to provide an effective hybrid channel-growth plan.

Abstract: An optical performance monitor (OPM) adapted to (i) sample an autocorrelation function corresponding to an optical signal transmitted in an optical network and (ii) based on the sampling, characterize two or more impairments concurrently present in the optical signal. In one embodiment, the OPM has an optical autocorrelator (OAC) coupled to a signal processor (SP). The OAC receives the optical signal from the network, generates two or more samples of its autocorrelation function, and applies said samples to the SP. The SP processes the samples and generates two or more signal metrics. Based on the signal metrics and reference data corresponding to the impairments, the SP then obtains a measure of each of the impairments.

Abstract: In an optical transmission system, operations of certain elements are adjusted in an individualized manner after detecting a change in the total optical power level corresponding to multiple optical channels in a link of the system in order to control transients in those channels. For example, in response to a sudden drop in the number of channels resulting from a fiber cut, the power levels of the optical pumps in a Raman amplifier in an OADM are adjusted to reduce transient gain errors in the surviving channels, where the adjustment to the pump power level for each different optical pump is a function of both the detected change in the total optical power level and at least one specified coefficient for that particular optical pump, in order to handle non-linearities in the response of the Raman amplifier to the sudden drop in the number of optical channels.

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.