INTEGRATED DOUBLE PASS EQUALIZER FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS

摘要

Disclosed is an optical double pass equalizer for equalizing a wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) signal. The equalizer comprises a multiplexer/demultiplexer and multiple variable optical attenuators (VOAs) integrated on a single monolithic chip. The WDM signal is demultiplexed into individual wavelength channels by the multiplexer/demultiplexer and each wavelength channel is equalized by a corresponding VOA. The equalized wavelength channels are then multiplexed into an equalized WDM signal by the multiplexer/demultiplexer. This provides several advantages, including a reduction in required assembly and assembly cost, as well as an improved dynamic range in attenuation level or alternatively a reduction in power consumption for a fix attenuation level compared to a single pass VOA unit.