Patent ID: 7054559
Filing Date: 2006-05-30
Classification: H04B,H04J

Abstract:
1. A system for equalizing optical gain across a set of channels within an operating window of a fiber communication network, comprising: a coarse wavelength division multiplexing/demultiplexing unit configured to support bi-directional optical signal traffic within the operating window, the operating window comprising a first set of subwindows traveling in a first direction and a second set of subwindows traveling in a second direction, the first set of subwindows comprising different channels of the set of channels than the second set of subwindows, wherein each subwindow of the first and second set of subwindows comprises a plurality of channels from the set of channels; a plurality of fine wavelength division multiplexers configured to support uni-directional traffic comprising the first set of subwindows; a plurality of fine wavelength division demultiplexers configured to support uni-directional traffic comprising the second set of subwindows; a first plurality of optical line amplifiers, each of the first plurality of optical line amplifiers configured to amplify a different respective subwindow of the first set of subwindows traveling in the first direction; and a second plurality of optical line amplifiers, each of the second plurality of optical line amplifiers configured to amplify a different respective subwindow of the second set of subwindows traveling in the second direction, wherein the first and second plurality of optical line amplifiers are configured to substantially equalize gain across the set of channels within the operating window.