Patent ID: 8095017

Claim:
A device for breaking down the dynamic range of one incident optical signal, the device comprising: passive optical means of division capable of dividing the one incident optical signal into N+1 optical signals S 0 , S 1 , S 2 , . . . , SN having different powers, wherein N is an integer equal to at least 2, each of these N+1 optical signals having an attenuation with respect to the incident optical signal, wherein the passive optical means of division comprises optical couplers C 1 , C 2 , . . . CN−1, CN, each optical coupler Ci receiving an input optical signal having a power Pi and outputting two optical signals having powers xiPi and yiPi, respectively, with xi+yi being substantially 100% and xi≠yi, passive optical means of making a time offset, capable of offsetting the optical signals S 1 to SN in time with respect to the optical signal S 0 , and passive optical multiplexing means capable of multiplexing the optical signals offset in time.