Monitoring node and reflector node of an optical communication network, optical communication network, and method for operating an optical communication network

摘要

The invention refers to a optical communication network (11) comprising a monitoring node (12) having a port (31) for outputting at least one optical signal (»1) that has a first wavelength range (R1) over an optical link (17) of the network (11) to a reflector node (15) of the network (11). In order to allow for efficient monitoring the optical link (17) it is suggested that the reflector node (15) comprises a wavelength selective optical reflector (45) connected to the link (17), the reflector (45) being configured for generating a monitoring signal (m) by reflecting a part of the optical signal (»1) back into the link (17), the monitoring signal (m) having a second wavelength range (R2) that is a proper sub-range of the first wavelength range (R1) and the monitoring node (13) comprises a detector (40) coupled with the port (31) for determining whether the link (17) is defective arranged for detecting the monitoring signal (m) generated by the reflector node (15).