System and Method of Providing Dark Section Free Transport Networks
First Claim
1. A wavelength selective switch (WSS) comprising:
- a light source for sending a pilot optical signal;
a multiplexer for receiving a plurality of input signals and for outputting a multiplexed output signal; and
a coupler for receiving the pilot optical signal and the multiplexed output signal, and for outputting a WSS output signal.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A wavelength selective switch (WSS), reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) and methods of determining a condition of a domain network section are provided. The WSS and ROADM include a light source for sending an optical signal having a characteristic. The method comprises instructing a light source to send an optical signal across an optical link, obtaining measurements of characteristic values of the optical signal received at and sent by components along the domain network section, comparing the characteristic values to pre-defined limits, and determining the condition of the domain network section based on the characteristic values.
14 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A wavelength selective switch (WSS) comprising:
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a light source for sending a pilot optical signal; a multiplexer for receiving a plurality of input signals and for outputting a multiplexed output signal; and a coupler for receiving the pilot optical signal and the multiplexed output signal, and for outputting a WSS output signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) comprising:
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a controller interface for receiving instructions from a controller; a wavelength selective switch (WSS) for receiving a combined input optical signal and for outputting a WSS output signal; and an add-drop bank for receiving at least one single optical signal from the combined input optical signal; wherein a light source is integrated in at least one of the WSS add-drop bank for sending a pilot optical signal; wherein the ROADM is configured to receive instructions from a network controller for; activating the light source that emits optical signals having a known characteristic to send the optical signal throughout the optical network; monitoring received optical signals; transmitting monitored readings to the network controller. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 21)
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9. A method of determining a condition of a domain network, the method comprising:
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instructing a light source to send an optical signal across an optical link of a domain network section comprising a plurality of components, wherein the link extends from a first ROADM in the domain network section to a second ROADM in the domain network section; obtaining characteristic values of the optical signal at each component; and performing health monitoring by determining the condition of the domain network section based on the characteristic values. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. (canceled)
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16. method of determining that a new wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) channel may be added, the method comprising:
for each section of the domain network; instructing a light source to send an optical signal tuned to a wavelength for that section of the domain network; and checking that the performance readings are within the pre-defined limits for that wavelength. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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18. A method of monitoring a condition of an optical network, the method comprising:
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instructing a light source that emits optical signals having a known characteristic to send the optical signal throughout the optical network; instructing receivers in nodes in the optical network to monitor the optical signal they received; receiving monitoring readings from the nodes and comparing the monitoring readings to an expected result based on the known characteristic; and evaluating a condition of each domain network section by comparing the monitoring readings to pre-defined limits for each domain network section. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification