Patent ID: 7995916

Claim:
An apparatus for facilitating the verification of optical path integrity, comprising: a supplemental signal modifier coupled to an optical signal port and configured to add information to a first supplemental signal associated with an optical signal received at the optical signal port, wherein the received optical signal is produced by electrically modulating an electrical signal according to the first supplemental signal; a controller for issuing commands to the supplemental signal modifier regarding the added information; and at least one supplemental signal detector coupled to another signal port, responsive to the first supplemental signal and to the added information, for simultaneously determining the receipt and proper routing of the optical signal, wherein the at least one supplemental signal detector reports receipt of the first supplemental signal to the controller, wherein the value of at least one attribute of a second supplemental signal imparted by the supplemental signal modifier is determined, and information from the supplemental signal detector about the value of the attribute detected in the second supplemental signal is received, a matrix fault indication being issued depending at least upon whether the detected value of the attribute agrees with the value imparted by the supplemental signal modifier.