Patent ID: 8219835

Claim:
A power saving receiving node in a fiber optic network, comprising: a channel having a channel input and a channel output, the channel input configured to connect to a data source to receive an optical data signal therefrom, the optical data signal including an enabling data pattern; a power consuming component operatively connected to the channel output to receive data from the channel, the power consuming component having a default disabled state where it does not receive data from the channel; and an optical resonator having a resonator input configured to operatively connect to the data source to receive the optical data signal including the enabling data pattern, and the optical resonator further includes a resonator output operatively connected to the power consuming component, the channel output connected to the power consuming component is separate from the resonator output connected to the power consuming component, the resonator input is separate from the channel input and the resonator input to receive the optical data signal from a location positioned upstream from the channel input so that the optical data signal introduced into the resonator input does not first enter the channel via the channel input, the optical resonator includes a photodetector configured to convert the enabling data pattern into an electrical signal that is transmitted via the resonator output to the power consuming component to enable the power consuming component to receive data from the channel output.