Patent ID: 7933518

Claim:
An integrated optical transceiver, comprising: an optical receiver configured to produce a first electrical signal at a reception electrical interface in response to a first optical signal; a power failure monitor configured to detect an imminent power failure in the integrated optical transceiver and to produce a dying-gasp signal when an imminent power failure is detected in the integrated optical transceiver; an optical transmitter configured to emit a second optical signal in response to a second electrical signal comprising user data received at a transmission electrical interface, wherein the second optical signal is modulated by the dying-gasp signal; a first optical branching device configured to receive the first optical signal at an reception optical interface and to direct at least a portion of the first optical signal to the optical receiver; and a second optical branching device configured to direct the second optical signal to an transmission optical interface, wherein the first optical branching device is configured to direct at least a portion of the first optical signal to the second optical branching device, wherein the second optical branching device is configured to direct the portion of the first optical signal received from the first optical branching device to the transmission optical interface.