System and method of Raman amplifier pump control

1. A method comprising:

receiving measured channel powers;

determining deviations of respective measured channel powers from respective target channel powers;

projecting the deviations into a space that defines Raman gain profiles achievable with a set of channels and pump lasers whereby projected deviations are formed; and

determining power setting values for the pump lasers based on the projected deviations.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

applying the power setting values determined to the pump lasers.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the method is repeated until the projected deviations satisfy a convergence criteria.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

compensating the deviations for fiber propagation loss.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining deviations that are not correctable based on the projected deviations; and

passing the deviations that are not correctable to a wavelength selectable switch for diagnostic purposes.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

measuring channel power for a plurality of channels.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein determining power setting values comprises:

solving an optimization problem using the projected deviations.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the optimization problem is a first-order optimization problem, a linear programming optimization problem, a steepest descent optimization problem, genetic optimization problem, or simulated annealing optimization problem.

9. A method comprising:

removing a feature which cannot be corrected by the adjustment of a plurality of Raman pumps from a set of measured deviations from targeted optical channel powers; and

optimizing power setting values for the plurality of Raman pumps based on a space of correctable changes, the space of correctable changes comprising the set of measured deviations from targeted optical channel powers after the feature is removed.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein optimizing power settings comprises:

solving an optimization problem with use of the space of correctable changes to thereby determine the power setting values for the plurality of Raman pumps for subsequent use in setting one or more Raman pump powers.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the optimization problem is a first-order optimization problem, a linear programming optimization problem, a steepest descent optimization problem, genetic optimization problem, or simulated annealing optimization problem and the like.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the optimization problem is directed to determining one or more of the power setting values for the plurality of Raman pumps which substantially minimize the measured deviations from targeted optical channel powers after the feature is removed.

13. A method comprising:

receiving power measurements for a plurality of optical channels;

creating deviation measurements representing a difference between respective power measurements and corresponding power targets for the plurality of optical channels;

determining correctable deviations for the plurality of optical channels based on the deviation measurements, the correctable deviations being a correctable portion of a partition of the deviation measurements into the correctable portion and non-correctable portion; and

determining a pump setting for a plurality of pumps based upon the correctable deviations for each channel.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the correctable deviations for respective optical channels depend on Raman pump gain profiles of a set of the plurality of pumps that address the respective optical channel and corresponding deviation measurements that are directed to the respective optical channel.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein determining correctable deviations comprises:

determining a correctable deviation vector Yi, wherein Yi=Sum(j) Pij Ej wherein i,j are channel numbers of one of the plurality of channels, Pij is a projector into the space spanned by the column vectors of the Raman gain matrix, and Ej is the deviation measurement for channel j.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein determining a pump setting for a plurality of pumps comprises:

solving an optimization problem using the correctable deviations for each channel.

17. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

applying the pump setting for the plurality of pumps to the pumps.

18. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

determining non-correctable deviations for the plurality of optical channels based on the correctable deviations; and

forwarding the non-correctable deviations for subsequent use setting one or more optical channel powers.

19. An apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to receive measured channel powers and to determine deviations of respective measured channel powers from respective target channel powers, wherein the processor is further configured to project the deviations into a space that defines Raman gain profiles achievable with a set of channels and pump lasers whereby projected deviations are formed, and wherein the processor is further configured to determine power setting values for the pump lasers based on the projected deviations.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions comprising machine executable code which when executed by at least one processor, causes the processor to

receive power measurements for a plurality of optical channels;

create deviation measurements representing a difference between respective power measurements and corresponding power targets for the plurality of optical channels;

determining correctable deviations for the plurality of optical channels, the correctable deviations being a correctable portion of a partition of the deviation measurements into the correctable portion and a non-correctable portion; and

determining a pump setting for a plurality of pumps based upon the correctable deviations for each channel.

21. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the processor is configured to compensate the deviations for fiber propagation loss.

22. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the processor is configured to

determine deviations that are not correctable based on the projected deviations; and

forward the deviations that are not correctable for diagnostic purposes.

23. An apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to remove a feature which cannot be corrected by the adjustment of a plurality of Raman pumps from a set of measured deviations from targeted optical channel powers; and wherein the processor is further configured to optimize power setting values for the plurality of Raman pumps based on a space of correctable changes, the space of correctable changes comprising the set of measured deviations from targeted optical channel powers after the feature is removed.

24. An apparatus comprising:

a processor and a memory unit associated with the processor, the processor configure to

receive power measurements for a plurality of optical channels;

create deviation measurements representing a difference between respective power measurements and corresponding power targets for the plurality of optical channels;

determine correctable deviations for the plurality of optical channels based on the deviation measurements, the correctable deviations being a correctable portion of a partition of the deviation measurements into the correctable portion and non-correctable portion; and

determine a pump setting for a plurality of pumps based upon the correctable deviations for each channel.