Patent ID: 8824043

Claim:
An optical output level control apparatus, comprising: a detector configured to detect optical power of an input optical signal; an optical amplifier configured to amplify the input optical signal; a memory configured to store data that define a first curved line representing a relationship between the optical input power and a drive voltage of the optical amplifier for obtaining a first output level and data that defines a second curved line representing a relationship between the optical input power and the drive voltage of the optical amplifier for obtaining a second output level; a generator configured to correct at least one of the first and second curved lines so that a range of the optical input power of the first curved line is the same as the range of the optical input power of the second curved line and the range of the drive voltage of the first curved line is the same as the range of the drive voltage of the second curved line and generate a target curved line representing a relationship between optical input power and a drive voltage of the optical amplifier for obtaining a target output level through interpolation based on the first and second curved lines at least one of which is corrected; a determiner configured to determine a drive voltage corresponding to the optical power detected by the detector; and a drive circuit configured to drive the optical amplifier using the drive voltage determined by the determiner.