Patent ID: 7725042

Claim:
An amplifier station for amplifying an optical signal propagating along an optical fiber span, the amplifier station comprising: a management card; a first optical circulator coupled to the optical fiber span, the first optical circulator configured to receive a first optical service channel signal from the management card, and to direct the first optical service channel signal along the optical fiber span with the optical signal; a second optical circulator coupled to the optical fiber span, the second optical circulator configured to extract a second optical service channel signal from the optical fiber span, and to direct the second optical service channel signal to the management card; a first line card coupled to the optical fiber span between the first and second optical circulators, wherein the first line card includes an amplifier; a second line card coupled to the optical fiber span between the first and second optical circulators, wherein the second line card includes a dispersion compensation module; and a plurality of transducers coupled to the optical fiber span, wherein each of the plurality of transducers is configured to measure a power associated with the amplifier; wherein the management card is coupled to the first and second optical circulators, the first and second line cards, and the plurality of transducers, wherein the management card is configured to set a gain of the amplifier based on measurements from the plurality of transducers, and wherein the management card is configured to determine presence information and location information of each of the first and second line cards.