In this invention we present a method and apparatus of simultaneously compensating
a divider power-loss and managing the pump's power budget in upgradeable and scalable
passive optical network architecture. The apparatus namely called lossless splitter,
is passive, bi-directional and allows modular and scalable PON architecture. According
to the preferred embodiment of the present invention a mean of dividing (combining)
optical signals to (from) a plurality of paths in a lossless fashion is proposed.
This divider (combiner) also as the property of distributing the residual optical
pump power, needed for amplifier stage activation, to other dividers (combiners)
in a chain. The incoming pump power may be provided by the signal transmission
fiber or by a pump power transmission fiber. Applications of this lossless divider
(combiner) are reviewed, alternative embodiments are proposed and system deployment/upgrade
strategies are described.
