Patent ID: 7289734

Claim:
A method for automatic multi-level power management in an optical network, comprising the steps of: (a) controlling attenuation of attenuators on each channel to change powers of channels in a band of channels in the optical network so as to provide that power variation between the channels in the band of channels is within a predetermined power range around an average power selected for the band of channels; (b) controlling attenuation of the attenuators on each channel to change average powers of newly added bands of channels to the fiber so as to provide that the average power for each newly added band is substantially equal to the average power of existing bands on the fiber; and (c) controlling attenuation of the attenuators on each channel to change the average power of bands of channels on working and protection fibers for a path in the optical network so as to provide that the average power of the bands of channels on the working and protection fibers is substantially equal to the lowest between the existing average power of bands on the working fiber and the existing average power of bands on the protection fiber; wherein the same said attenuators are controlled by steps (a), (b), and (c); and wherein the same said attenuators are controlled simultaneously through adjustment of attenuations.