Patent ID: 8670671

Claim:
An optical source, comprising: a set of N light sources configured to provide a corresponding set of N optical signals having N different carrier wavelengths, wherein a given light source is configured to provide a given optical signal having a given carrier wavelength; an optical combiner, optically coupled to the set of N light sources, configured to combine the set of N optical signals into a seed optical signal; and a substrate, wherein the substrate includes: an optical coupler configured to receive the seed optical signal that includes the set of N optical signals; a set of K optical amplifiers optically coupled to the optical coupler, wherein the set of K optical amplifiers is configured to amplify the set of N optical signals and to provide a set of M output optical signals; wherein the given output optical signal includes the set of N optical signals; wherein M is less than K; and wherein a total power of the set of M output optical signals exceeds a predefined multiple of a total power of the set of N optical signals.