Method of dynamically controlling an optical module

1. A method of dynamically adjusting an optical system having a plurality of transmission channels, a first repeater and a second repeater, each repeater having at least one optical module, the method comprising:

measuring the quality of an optical signal at an output of the system downstream of the second repeater using an electronic signal processor unit and sending a signal to a central control unit of the system, wherein the quality is defined by an error function (E);

varying at least one optical parameter of the at least one optical module in the first repeater and at least one optical parameter of the at least one optical module in the second repeater using the central control unit;

measuring a differential error (ΔE) introduced by each variation on the error function of the optical signal at the output of the system;

estimating an operating point (X) of the system corresponding to an expected reduction of the error function (E) using the central control unit; and

adjusting at least one parameter of the at least one optical module in the first repeater and the at least one optical module in the second repeater toward said operating point of the system (X) based upon commands transmitted via supervisory channels by the central control unit.

2. The method according to claim 1 of dynamically adjusting an optical module, characterized in that each parameter variation is effected in the vicinity of the value of said parameter associated with the current operating point and is preferably an infinitesimal variation.

3. The method according to claim 1 of dynamically adjusting an optical module, characterized in that at least two parameters of at least one optical module of the system are successively affected by a variation.

4. The method according to claim 1 of dynamically adjusting an optical module, characterized in that all parameters (X 1 ) of each optical module of the system are successively affected by a variation.

5. The method according to claim 1 of dynamically adjusting an optical module, characterized in that the steps of said method are repeated in looped fashion during operation of the optical system.

6. The method according to claim 1 of dynamically adjusting an optical module, characterized in that the quality of the optical signal for each transmission channel (e i ) at the output of the system is measured by the forward error correction module (FEC) on the basis of a bit error rate (BER).

7. The method according to claim 1 of dynamically adjusting an optical module, characterized in that the quality of the optical signal for each transmission channel (e i ) at the output of the system is measured by means of an eye diagram.

8. The method according to claim 1 of dynamically adjusting an optical module, characterized in that the operating point (X) is calculated by the central control unit of the system.

9. The method according to claim 1 of dynamically adjusting an optical module, characterized in that the variations of the parameters of the optical modules are transmitted over supervisory channels of said system.

10. A method of dynamically adjusting an optical system having a plurality of transmission channels, a first repeater and a second repeater, each repeater having at least one optical module, the method comprising:

measuring the quality of an optical signal at an output of the system downstream of the second repeater using a measuring element and sending a signal to a central control unit of the system, wherein the quality is defined by an error function (E), wherein E=[αΣ(ei) β ] γ where ei is the quality of the i th transmission channel of the system and α, β and γ are positive constants and are not necessarily integers;

varying at least one optical parameter of the at least one optical module in the first repeater and at least one optical parameter of the at least optical module in the second repeater using the central control unit;

measuring a differential error (ΔE) introduced by each variation on the error function of the optical signal at the output of the system;

estimating an operating point (X) of the system corresponding to an expected reduction of the error function (E);

adjusting at least one parameter of the at least one optical module in the first repeater and the at least one optical module in the second repeater toward said operating point of the system (X) based upon commands transmitted via supervisory channels by the central control unit, and

measuring the quality of the optical signal at the output of the system and sending a second signal to the central control unit.

11. The method according to claim 10 of dynamically adjusting an optical module, characterized in that each parameter variation is effected in the vicinity of the value of said parameter associated with the current operating point and is preferably an infinitesimal variation.

12. The method according to claim 10 of dynamically adjusting an optical module, characterized in that at least two parameters of at least one optical module of the system are successively affected by a variation.

13. The method according to claim 10 of dynamically adjusting an optical module, characterized in that all parameters (X 1 ) of each optical module of the system are successively affected by a variation.

14. The method according to claim 10 of dynamically adjusting an optical module, characterized in that the steps of said method are repeated in looped fashion during operation of the optical system.

15. The method according to claim 10 of dynamically adjusting an optical module, characterized in that the quality of the optical signal for each transmission channel (e i ) at the output of the system is measured by the forward error correction module (FEC) on the basis of a bit error rate (BER).

16. The method according to claim 10 of dynamically adjusting an optical module, characterized in that the quality of the optical signal for each transmission channel (e i ) at the output of the system is measured by means of an eye diagram.

17. The method according to claim 1 , wherein E=[αΣ(ei) β ] γ where ei is the quality of the i th transmission channel of the system and α, β and γ are positive constants.

18. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a plurality of parameters is adjusted in the at least one optical module in each repeater.

19. The method according to claim 18 , wherein the plurality of parameters is adjusted as function of the at least one optical module in each repeater.

20. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the optical modules to be adjusted are modeled and a function is defined for direct conversion between a command sent by a supervisory system and the variation induced in an optical parameter of said module.

21. The method according to claim 20 , wherein the conversion is effected by the module so as to produce a given parameter variation in response to a given received command.