Patent ID: 7280762

Claim:
An optical communication device, comprising: a plurality of optical transmitters, each of which outputting a respective one of a plurality of optical signals, each of said plurality of optical signals having a corresponding one of a plurality of wavelengths, each of a first group of said plurality of optical signals having a first data rate and being adjacent one another in wavelength, and each of a second group of said plurality of optical signals having a second data rate and being adjacent one another in wavelength, said first data rate being different than said second data rate; an optical multiplexer configured to receive said plurality of optical signals, and supply said plurality of optical signals to an optical communication path; a plurality of weighting factors stored in a weighted power table and used to calculate a plurality of weighted signal power values; and a dynamic gain equalization circuit coupled to said optical communication path, said dynamic gain equalization circuit being configured to selectively adjust a power level of each optical signal based at least in part on said plurality of weighting factors, with said first and second groups of said plurality of optical signals such that each optical signal within said first group has an intensity substantially equal to a first intensity value, and each optical signal within said second group has an intensity substantially equal to a second intensity value, said first intensity value being different than said second intensity value; and wherein a plurality of multiple rate signals in more than one optical channels, and in more than one channel bands, are adjusted on a channel-by-channel basis in each band to a desired power spectrum for each optical channel.