Patent ID: 6493088
Filing Date: 2002-12-10
Classification: G01J,H04B,H04J

Abstract:
An apparatus for monitoring an optical signal of a spectrum, the apparatus comprising:an optical splitter connected to receive the optical signal in a series input and operable to couple the optical signal received to a plurality of parallel outputs; a plurality of optical filters each designed to a respective wavelength region, the plurality of optical filters being respectively connected to the plurality of power splitter outputs for separating the optical signal spectrum into a plurality of spectral bands and produce a corresponding plurality of intermediate optical signals each representative of a particular spectral band of the optical signal spectrum; a switch coupled to the plurality of optical filters via a plurality of parallel inputs and operable to sequentially produce in a series output each one of the plurality of intermediate optical signals in cycles; an interferometer connected to the series output of the switch to receive the plurality of intermediate optical signals for cyclically scanning the plurality of spectral bands wherein during each scan cycle, the interferometer is operable to sequentially isolate from each spectral band a spectrally resolved portion of the optical signal spectrum for producing an output optical signal sequentially representative of each isolated spectrally resolved portion of the optical signal spectrum; a photo-detector connected to the interferometer and operable to convert the output optical signal to an electrical signal sequentially representative of each isolated spectrally resolved portion of the optical signal spectrum; and a processing unit operable to sample the electrical signal for collecting one or more samples of each isolated spectrally resolved portion of the optical signal spectrum isolated for continuous monitoring of the optical signal spectrum.