Patent ID: 7526211

Claim:
A control system for dynamically optimizing operation of a bidirectional optical communications system comprising first and second frequency-agile optical transceivers interconnected by an optical link, each optical transceiver including an optical transmitter for transmitting an optical signal through the optical link to the other optical transceiver, a coherent optical receiver for receiving an optical signal from the other optical transceiver via the optical link, and a shared local oscillator for supplying a local oscillator optical signal to both the optical transmitter and the coherent optical receiver, the control system comprising: in the first optical transceiver: a first signal processor for generating at least one parameter indicative of a quality of the optical signal received from the second optical transceiver; a detector for receiving respective quality parameters from the first signal processor and from the second optical transceiver; a processor for deriving first and second tuning signals based on the respective quality parameters from the first signal processor and from the second optical transceiver, and for sending the second tuning signal to the second optical transceiver; and a controller responsive to the first tuning signal to control a frequency of the local oscillator; in the second optical transceiver: a second signal processor for generating at least one parameter indicative of a quality of the optical signal received from the first optical transceiver, and for sending the at least one quality parameter to the first optical transceiver; and a controller responsive to the second tuning signal received from the first optical transceiver to control a frequency of the local oscillator.