Patent ID: 7719758
Filing Date: 2010-05-18
Classification: G02B,H01S,H04B

Abstract:
1. An optical amplifier for supplying a pumping light to an optical amplification medium to amplify one or more signal lights, comprising: a Raman amplifier amplifying signal lights due to a Raman effect occurring in the optical amplification medium, the Raman amplifier including: a pumping light supply section that supplies pumping lights to the optical amplification medium; an output light monitoring section that measures the power of a light, which is propagated through the optical amplification medium to be output; an amplified spontaneous Raman scattering light processing section that supplies, in a preparation state before starting an operation, the pumping lights to the optical amplification medium to be actually used in the operation time, to measure the power of an amplified spontaneous Raman scattering light generated in said optical amplification medium, and based on the measured amplified spontaneous Raman scattering light power, obtains a coefficient of a modeling formula for calculating the amplified spontaneous Raman scattering light power after starting the operation; a storing section that stores the coefficient obtained by said amplified spontaneous Raman scattering light processing section; an amplified spontaneous Raman scattering light calculating section that calculates, in accordance with the modeling formula to which the coefficient stored in said storing section is applied, the power of the amplified spontaneous Raman scattering light generated after starting the operation, according to the powers of the pumping lights supplied to the optical amplification medium from said pumping light supply section; and a pumping light control section that corrects the output light power measured by said output light monitoring section using the amplified spontaneous Raman scattering light power calculated by said amplified spontaneous Raman scattering light calculating section, to control an operation of said pumping light supply section based on the corrected output light power.