Patent ID: 7978973
Filing Date: 2011-07-12
Classification: H04J,H04L

Abstract:
1. A wavelength division multiplexing transmission system, the system comprising: a plurality of channels at different wavelengths, each channel comprising a transmitter, a receiver, and one or more amplifiers, the system further comprising for each of the plurality of channels: prioritizing means for prioritizing each channel according to the data carried on that channel; monitoring means for monitoring directly or indirectly, raw uncorrected bit errors on each channel; and power adjusting means for varying the power on a channel in response to the bit error rate of that channel; wherein the monitoring means detects that a higher priority channel has a raw bit error rate that exceeds a threshold, and in response, the power adjusting means decreases the power level of a lower priority channel and increases the power level of the higher priority channel to therefore maintain the combined power level of the plurality of channels below a defined threshold while enabling the higher priority channel to be transmitted at a higher power level.