Patent ID: 6901190

Claim:
A fault tolerant optical amplifier apparatus for amplifying transmission signals, said apparatus comprising: a first amplifying fiber segment having first and second ends, a first set of said transmission signals propagating through said first fiber segment; a first directional coupler coupled to said first end of said first amplifying fiber segment; a first optical pump source coupled to said first directional coupler, said pump source supplying pump to said first amplifying fiber segment such that a portion of said pump power remains after propagation through said first amplifying fiber segment; a second amplifying fiber segment having a first and second ends, a second set of said transmission signals propagating through said second fiber segment, said second set of said transmission signals being different from said first set of said transmission signals; a second directional coupler coupled to said first end of said second amplifying fiber segment; a second optical pump source coupled to said second directional coupler, said pump source supplying pump power to said second amplifying fiber segment; a third directional coupler coupled to said second end of said first amplifying fiber segment; a fourth directional coupler coupled to said second end of said second amplifying fiber segment; a bi-directional optical connection disposed between said third and fourth couplers, such that said portion of pump power remaining after propagation through said first amplifying fiber segment is supplied to said second amplifying fiber segment via said third coupler, said bi-directional connection and said fourth coupler; and a feed back circuit communicating with said first pump source and said second pump source, said feedback circuit generating a feedback signal to adjust the power output associated with one of said first pump source and said second pump source when the other of said first pump source and said second pump source fails.