Patent ID: 7218858
Filing Date: 2007-05-15
Classification: H04B,H04J

Abstract:
1. A system for managing power in an optical network comprising: a variable optical attenuator having an input and an output, the attenuator attenuating one or more optical signals based on a target attenuation value; a feedback monitoring unit coupled to the output of the attenuator for monitoring an output attenuation value; and a control unit communicatively coupled to the feedback monitoring unit for receiving the output attenuation value, the control unit also being communicatively coupled to the attenuator for controlling the attenuator in accordance with a plurality zone method based upon the output attenuation value and the target attenuation value, and the control unit comprising a control logic, a memory, and an analog to digital converter, and the memory comprising one or more attenuation value lookup table; wherein the plurality zone method comprises a first zone comprising a plurality of acceptable output attenuation values within a second zone, the attenuator selectively disabled when the output attenuation value falls within the first zone and selectively enabled when the output attenuation value falls outside of the second zone; wherein each zone comprises an upper boundary value and a lower boundary value, each boundary value set based upon a balancing of optimization criteria consisting of: accuracy required by a system link budget, longevity of the variable optical attenuator, and the heat dissipated by the variable optical attenuator; and wherein each zone is shifted higher or lower according to a change in the target attenuation value.