Patent ID: 8186891
Filing Date: 2012-05-29
Classification: G02B,H04B

Abstract:
1. In an optical transmitter for converting and coupling an information-containing electrical signal with an optical fiber comprising: a housing including an electrical input for coupling with an external electrical cable or information system device and for transmitting information-containing electrical signals over said input, and a fiber optical connector adapted for coupling with an external optic fiber for transmitting an optical signal; an electro-optic subassembly disposed in said housing coupled to the information containing electrical signal and converting it to a modulated optical signal corresponding to the electrical signal at a predetermined wavelength; a method comprising: acquiring, at a sequence of time intervals, operational data associated with the transmitter to store said operational data acquired during said sequence of time intervals in a non-volatile memory disposed in said housing; tracking and storing an elapsed time while the transmitter is operational; accessing said non-volatile memory to determine the stored operational data; and during at least one of maintenance and diagnostics, overriding default behaviors established for tracking and storing the elapsed time.