Optical transmission method and apparatus and optical amplification method and apparatus for optical communication system

摘要

The invention provides an optical transmission method and apparatus suitable for use with a terminal station apparatus for an optical communication system for a very long distance of up to several thousands kilometers across an ocean as well as an optical amplification method and apparatus suitable for use with a repeater for an optical communication system. The methods and apparatus are improved in that the excessive loss in an optical amplifier and the variation of the branching ratio are suppressed to suppress the variation of the gain to suppress the polarization dependency of the loss or the gain on a transmission line of the optical communication system. The optical transmission apparatus comprises a depolarized light source for outputting depolarized light, and an external modulator for modulating light from the depolarized light source.