Patent ID: 8639118

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: a forward error correction (FEC) encoder circuit configured to receive input data, such that, in response to a first control input, the FEC encoder circuit generates first error correcting bits, and, in response to a second control input, the FEC encoder generates second error correcting bits, a number of the second error correcting bits being greater than a number of the first error correcting bits; a plurality of optical transmitters, each of which being configured to supply a corresponding one of a plurality of first optical signals, each of the plurality of first optical signals having a corresponding one of a plurality of wavelengths and carrying a corresponding one of a plurality of data streams, one of the plurality of data streams including one of the first error correcting bits and the second error correcting bits; an optical combiner configured to combine the plurality of first optical signals onto an optical path; a wavelength selective switch having an input coupled to the optical path, the input of the wavelength selective switch receiving the first plurality of optical signals, the wavelength selective switch having a plurality of output ports, each of which having a corresponding one of a plurality of bandwidths, each of which being different from one another, the wavelength selective switch supplying the first plurality of optical signals to one of the plurality of output ports having a bandwidth that accommodates a bandwidth of the first plurality of optical signals; a photodiode, the photodiode configured to receive a portion of each of the plurality of first optical signals and supply a first electrical signal; a local oscillator laser, at least a portion of a second optical signal output from the local oscillator is supplied to the photodiode; and circuitry configured to receive the first electrical signal and supply a second electrical signal in response to the first electrical signal, the circuitry including an electronic filter having a first bandwidth when the first error correcting bits are included in said one of the plurality of data streams and a second bandwidth when the second error correcting bits are included in said one of the plurality of data streams, the second bandwidth being spectrally wider than the first bandwidth, the second electrical signal carrying one of the plurality of data streams.