| 摘要 |
<p>The present invention provides a bidirectional WDM optical communication network including a bidirectional optical waveguide carrying counter-propagating WDM signals each including plural channels (20). Several optical nodes (100) are positioned along the waveguide, each including an optically amplified biedirectional ADM. Each ADM includes channels selectors (225, 255) for selecting at least one channel from each of the counterpropagating WDM signals. Each optical node includes at least one transmitter (500, 700) for supplying an optical add channel added by the ADM, and at least one receiver (400, 600) for receiving an optical channel dropped by the ADM. Through measurement of optical launch powers and optical amplifier gain, the optical power levels of the optical channels are controlled to within a specified range. The bidirectional systems of the present invention can be used to create flexible network topologies that are easily expandable to include additional optical nodes and have particular application in metropolitan area networks.</p> |
