Patent ID: 7965949

Claim:
A method for optical communication, comprising the steps of: providing a lasing cavity dimensioned to form a plurality of longitudinal modes spread across a plurality of dense wavelength division multiplexing channels; energizing the longitudinal modes of the plurality of longitudinal modes that are substantially in a selected one of the dense wavelength division multiplexing channels; suppressing the longitudinal modes of the plurality of longitudinal modes that are substantially outside the selected one of the dense wavelength division multiplexing channels; and encoding information on the energized longitudinal modes in response to modulating a semiconductor gain medium disposed substantially in the lasing cavity, wherein, in response to a substantial fluctuation in temperature of the lasing cavity stemming from a random event: the lasing cavity substantially lengthens or shortens; the plurality of longitudinal modes shift substantially; suppressed longitudinal modes shift into the selected dense wavelength division multiplexing channel and become energized; and energized longitudinal modes shift out of the selected dense wavelength division multiplexing channel and become suppressed, with the number of energized modes in the dense wavelength division multiplexing channel remaining substantially uniform.