SPECTRAL POWER EQUALIZER FOR WAVELENGTH-MULTIPLEXED OPTICAL FIBER COMMUNICATION LINKS

摘要

A method and apparatus is described for controlling the attenuation of multiple wavelengths signals propagating in an optical fiber, that may have a time-dependent powe r in each signal, to provide an output signal having a desired attenuated power in each of the multiple signals. An equalizer may be used that has various optical elements to focus and dispers e light, such as a concave diffraction grating and a modulator array having modulators disposed on a concave surface. The equalizer may also be coupled to various components such as a circulator or thermally expanded core fibers.