Patent ID: 7389054

Claim:
An optical communication apparatus comprising: a first optical branching unit branching input light entered to an input port into first and second branched input lights; an optical modulating unit modulating the first branched input light in accordance with a modulation signal to be transmitted, to thereby output a modulated optical signal; an optical detecting unit detecting a light intensity of the second branched input light; a second optical branching unit branching the modulated optical signal output from said optical modulating unit into first and second branched optical signals, and outputting the first branched optical signal to an output port; an operating point controlling unit controlling said optical modulating unit in accordance with the second branched optical signal; and a controlling unit stopping an operation of said operating point controlling unit when the detected light intensity is equal to or lower than a predetermined value, and controlling an operation of said operating point controlling unit when the detected light intensity becomes higher than the predetermined value from a value equal to or lower than the predetermined value.