← Back to Patent Explorer
US5080505A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Optical transmission system

Assignee: Nortel Networks Ltd
•
Filing: 1990-12-31
•
Granted: 1992-01-14
•
Expires: 2010-12-31
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract In an optical fiber transmission system, signals are transmitted along a fiber optic path (11) in the form of substantially dispersion-free solitons. The transmission path includes a number of optical amplifiers (12) each of which determines, from the transmitted soliton signal purity, a gain control signal which is fed back to a previous amplifier in the path. This ensures soliton purity and optimizes the transmission power.

Inventors

  • 👤 Richard E. Epworth

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-06 05:57
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04B; H04B10/00; H04B10/25; H04B10/2507; H04B10/25077

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim 111 words
A fibre optic transmission system in which information is transmitted in the form of sequences of optical soliton pulses, the system including a fibre optic path along which, in use, the soliton pulses are transmitted, optical amplifying means disposed at intervals along said path, a transmitter adapted to launch optical solitons into said path, and a receiver arranged to receive said solitons from the path, wherein each said amplifying means includes means for deriving from the characteristics of the transmitted soliton, a feedback signal for at least one other said amplifying means whereby to control the soliton amplitude and format throughout the path such that substantially pure soliton transmission is effected.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 111 words
A fibre optic transmission system in which information is transmitted in the form of sequences of optical soliton pulses, the system including a fibre optic path along which, in use, the soliton pulses are transmitted, optical amplifying means disposed at intervals along said path, a transmitter adapted to launch optical solitons into said path, and a receiver arranged to receive said solitons from the path, wherein each said amplifying means includes means for deriving from the characteristics of the transmitted soliton, a feedback signal for at least one other said amplifying means whereby to control the soliton amplitude and format throughout the path such that substantially pure soliton transmission is effected.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 148 words
A fibre optic transmission system in which information is transmitted in the form of sequences of optical soliton pulses, the system including a fibre optic path along which, in use, the soliton pulses are transmitted, optical amplifying means disposed at intervals along said path, and a receiver arranged to receive said solitons from the path, wherein each said amplifying means includes an optical amplifier, wherein each said amplifying means includes means for measuring the deviation of each soliton pulse from a pure soliton format whereby to derive a corresponding amplifier gain control feedback signal for a preceding amplifying means in said path, and wherein each said amplifying means further includes means receiving a said gain control signal from a succeeding amplifier in said path whereby to control the gain of each said amplifier too a value at which substantially pure soliton transmission is effected throughout the optical path.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 148 words
A fibre optic transmission system in which information is transmitted in the form of sequences of optical soliton pulses, the system including a fibre optic path along which, in use, the soliton pulses are transmitted, optical amplifying means disposed at intervals along said path, and a receiver arranged to receive said solitons from the path, wherein each said amplifying means includes an optical amplifier, wherein each said amplifying means includes means for measuring the deviation of each soliton pulse from a pure soliton format whereby to derive a corresponding amplifier gain control feedback signal for a preceding amplifying means in said path, and wherein each said amplifying means further includes means receiving a said gain control signal from a succeeding amplifier in said path whereby to control the gain of each said amplifier too a value at which substantially pure soliton transmission is effected throughout the optical path.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 46 words
A transmissionn system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said means for measuring the deviation of each soliton pulse from a pure soliton format includes first and second detectors responsive to different optical wavelengths and coupled to a comparator whereby the gain control signal is derived.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 21 words
A transmissionn system as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein the gain control signals are transmitted over a supervisory channel.
Claim 7
Independent Claim 86 words
A method of fibre optical transmission of an information signal, the method including generating a sequence of optical soliton pulses corresponding to the information signal, transmitting the soliton pulses over a fibre optic path, amplifying the soliton pulses at stages along said path, and deriving from the soliton characteristics at each amplifier stage a feedback gain control signal for a previous amplifier stage whereby the degree of amplification at each said interval is controlled so as to provide substantially pure soliton transmissionn throughout the optical path.
Claim 8
Independent Claim 86 words
A method of fibre optical transmission of an information signal, the method including generating a sequence of optical soliton pulses corresponding to the information signal, transmitting the soliton pulses over a fibre optic path, amplifying the soliton pulses at stages along said path, and deriving from the soliton characteristics at each amplifier stage a feedback gain control signal for a previous amplifier stage whereby the degree of amplification at each said interval is controlled so as to provide substantially pure soliton transmissionn throughout the optical path.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 30 words
A method of fibre optic transmission as claimed in claim 5, wherein said amplification control is determined by measurement of deviation of the transmitted solitons from a pure soliton format.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US4680809A Cited
US4834481A Cited
US4973169A Cited
US4963832A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1995-01-13 1995-07-15 1996-01-14 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1999-01-13 1999-07-15 2000-01-14 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2003-01-13 2003-07-15 2004-01-14 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag