Claims
- 1. An adaptive optical amplifier, comprising:
(a) an optical amplifier; (b) a dynamic optical filter coupled to said optical amplifier; and (c) a feedback control of said dynamic optical filter; (d) whereby the gain of the combination of said optical amplifier plus said dynamic optical filter may be controlled by settings of said dynamic optical filter.
- 2. The amplifier of claim 1, wherein:
(a) said optical amplifier is an erbium-doped fiber amplifier, including an optical pump; (b) whereby said dynamic optical filter may be set independently of said optical pump.
- 3. The amplifier of claim 1, wherein:
(a) said dynamic optical filter includes a digital micromirror device.
- 4. The amplifier of claim 1, wherein:
(a) said dynamic optical filter is coupled to an input of said optical amplifier.
- 5. The amplifier of claim 4, further comprising:
(a) a static optical filter coupled to an output of said optical amplifier.
- 6. The amplifier of claim 1, wherein:
(a) said dynamic optical filter is coupled to an output of said optical amplifier.
- 7. The amplifier of claim 1, further comprising:
(a) a second optical amplifier coupled in series with said optical amplifier and dynamic optical filter; (b) whereby one of said optical amplifiers may be a high-power amplifier and the other of said optical amplifiers may be a high-gain amplifier.
- 8. The amplifier of claim 7, further comprising:
(a) a static optical filter in series with said optical amplifier, dynamic optical filter, and second optical amplifier.
- 9. The amplifier of claim 1, wherein:
(a) said feedback control includes an optical tap at the output of said optical amplifier and a digital signal processor system with input coupled to said optical tap and output coupled to said dynamic optical filter.
- 10. A method of optical amplifier control, comprising:
(a) coupling a dynamic optical filter to an optical amplifier; (b) tapping an output signal of said optical amplifier; and (c) using the results of step (b) to control said dynamic optical filter.
- 11. the method of claim 10, wherein:
(a) said dynamic optical filter includes a micromirror array.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority from provisional application: Serial No. 60/313,559, filed Aug. 20, 2001. Cofiled application Ser. Nos. 10/______ have a common assignee.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60313559 |
Aug 2001 |
US |