Patent ID: 6906854
Filing Date: 2005-06-14
Classification: H01S,H04B

Abstract:
1. An optical amplifier comprising: a plurality of pumps configured to produce an amplifier noise figure characteristic; and a control system optically communicating with said pumps, said control system comprising a detector configured to receive a signal representative of a backward-propagating noise spectrum and provide a plurality of detected signals, each of said detected signals being representative of the noise in an associated spectral segment of said signal representative of said backward-propagating noise signal, said control system further comprising a controller configured to provide a plurality of control signals in response to said detected signals, each of said control signals being provided to an associated one of said pumps to cause adjustment of at least one adjustable parameter of at least one of said pumps to achieve a desired wavelength-dependent noise figure characteristic and a desired output signal-to-noise ratio for a given input signal-to-noise ratio.