Patent ID: 7391971

Claim:
A method for powering up an optical network, comprising the steps of: (a) selecting an optical link between a transmitter and a receiver in the optical network, the optical link being divided into a number of sections by monitoring points located between the transmitter and the receiver; (b) selecting a first section of the optical link nearest to the transmitter in the optical network; (c) gradually increasing optical power of an optical signal provided to the selected section of the optical link from the transmitter, including setting attenuation of attenuators on the optical link to substantially maximum attenuation and gradually decreasing the attenuation of the attenuators until the optical signal is detected at the monitoring point belonging to the selected section, the step (c) comprising detecting the optical signal at the monitoring point by detecting a dither tone modulated onto the optical signal to uniquely identify the optical signal; (d) verifying if the detected optical signal at the minimal detectable level is being detected at the correct location according to a network specification and if the power of the detected optical signal is at the expected level according to the network specification; (e) selecting a next section of the optical link adjacent to the previously selected section and further away from the transmitter in the optical network; and (f) repeating the steps (c) to (e) until all sections in the optical link have been selected.