Patent ID: 8224183
Filing Date: 2012-07-17
Classification: H04B,H04J

Abstract:
1. An optical network, comprising: a plurality of enhancement service sources, where each of said plurality of enhancement service sources provides source information; a plurality of light sources, coupled to said plurality of enhancement service sources, where each of said light sources is for modulating said source information from one of said plurality of enhancement service sources to form a modulated optical signal; a wave division multiplexer (WDM) combiner, coupled to said plurality of light sources, for combining said modulated optical signals received from said plurality of light sources; at least two hybrid SOA-Raman amplifiers, wherein a first of said at least two hybrid SOA-Raman amplifiers amplifies said modulated optical signals in a first wavelength band, wherein a second of said at least two hybrid SOA-Raman amplifiers amplifies said modulated optical signals in a second wavelength band, wherein said first wavelength band is different from said second wavelength band, wherein said at least two hybrid SOA-Raman amplifiers are coupled to said WDM combiner, wherein each of said at least two hybrid SOA-Raman amplifiers is a two-stage amplifier that comprises a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) stage and a Raman amplifier stage, wherein the Raman amplifier stage compensates for a monotonic decrease in a gain of the SOA stage; and at least one optical splitter, coupled to said at least two hybrid SOA-Raman amplifiers, wherein said at least one optical splitter comprises a plurality of outputs.