| Patent application number | Description | Published |
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| 20090142070 | Methods and apparatus for supporting fiber span loss and dispersion measurements in the presence and absence of dispersion compensation elements - An example embodiment of the invention includes a method and apparatus for supporting fiber span loss and dispersion measurements in the presence or absence of dispersion compensation elements (DCE). The technique may be used to configure a network link by accessing an optical signal at an ingress side of a connection point for a DCE coupling an egress side of a fiber span at the ingress side of the DCE to an optical amplifier at a connection point for an egress side of the DCE. The technique may include determining chromatic dispersion of the fiber span based on the optical signal and reporting information associated with chromatic dispersion. As a result, the technique may be used, for example, during initial system installation when user data signals and the DCE are not present as well as after the network begins carrying user traffic and after a DCE has been installed. | 06-04-2009 |
| 20090252497 | Method and apparatus for compensating for polarization mode dispersion (PMD) - Current optical networks are engineered to handle amplifier noise and chromatic dispersion. Polarization mode dispersion occurs in optical networks due splitting of the light energy of a pulse propagating in a fiber into two modes. Compensating for polarization mode dispersion is a difficult and expensive task and hence only few commercial systems have been deployed to deal with this issue. A polarization mode dispersion compensation module according to an example embodiment of the present invention compensates for polarization mode dispersion by determining a performance metric related to an error rate of an optical signal in at least one polarization mode in a filtered state. Based on the performance metric, a control vector is determined to control the optical signal in the at least one polarization mode in the filtered state. The control vector is then applied to a polarization effecting device to compensate for polarization mode dispersion. | 10-08-2009 |
| 20090285585 | Method and apparatus for polarization stabilization in optical receivers with complex modulation formats - High optical communication rates are making their way into networks initially designed for 10 Gigabits per seconds (Gbps). These higher rates of 40 Gbps and higher have shorter signaling periods and are more susceptible to differential group delay (DGD). A method and corresponding apparatus in an example embodiment of the present invention compensates for polarization state sensitivity of a receiver by determining a performance metric relating to an error rate due to transmission and reception of a modulated optical signal in a medium introducing DGD. Based on the performance metric, a control vector is determined to control a polarization state of the modulated optical signal. The control vector is applied to a polarization effecting device to compensate for the DGD and the polarization state sensitivity of the receiver. Communication rates of 40 Gbps and higher can be used in transmission mediums that introduce DGD through use of embodiments presented. | 11-19-2009 |
| 20100040364 | Method and apparatus for reducing cost of an optical amplification in a network - Signals propagating in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical networks suffer from loss, which decreases optical signal-to-noise ratios (OSNRs) and degrades a quality of received transmissions. Present methods of boosting OSNRs involve regeneration using transponders, which scale in complexity with the number of WDM channels. Optical amplifiers may boost signal strength, but amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise often reduces OSNR despite increases in signal strength, although changing the amplifier operating settings may reduce emitted ASE noise power. A method or corresponding apparatus in an example embodiment of the present invention provides a planning tool for deploying optical amplifiers in an optical network in a manner that reduces the need for optical regeneration, reducing cost and complexity of the deployed network. In one embodiment, the disclosed planning tool may substitute models of high-gain amplifiers operating at low settings for models of low-gain amplifiers operating at high settings. | 02-18-2010 |
| 20100142956 | Method and Apparatus for Reshaping a Channel Signal - Higher rate channels (e.g., 40 Giga bits or greater) have large bandwidths and are susceptible to inter-channel crosstalk. Optical tunable filters may be used to overcome crosstalk. Tunable filters do not maintain their central wavelength over a long duration or a wide temperature range. An example embodiment of the present invention relates to shaping a channel signal within a dense wavelength division multiplexing signal and may employ a tunable filter and input and output optical power detectors to measure a modulated source channel signal at an input of the tunable filter and a filtered modulated source channel signal at an output of the tunable filter. A controller is configured to adjust a center wavelength of the tunable filter as a function of a difference between measurements of optical power by the optical power detectors. Adjusting the center wavelength shapes the channel signal and overcomes undesired effects for higher rate channels. | 06-10-2010 |
| 20100322621 | OSNR MODEL FOR OPTICAL ENGINEERING RULES USED IN A PLANNING TOOL - Increasing data rates in next-generation optical networks requires a change in the type of optical modulation used to encode optical signals carried by the optical networks. Different types of optical modulation incur different optical impairments, which may degrade the fidelity of the optical signals by reducing the optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR). A method or corresponding apparatus in an example embodiment of the present invention provides a planning tool for deploying an optical network in a manner based on the optical modulation that reduces the cost and complexity of the deployed network. In one embodiment, the disclosed planning tool may adjust a model of the optical network to be deployed by changing the topology and/or the number and/or type of optical network elements in response to optical impairments for a given optical modulation. | 12-23-2010 |
