A pump source for a fiber Raman amplifier used in a WDM optical communication
system
is formed to generate an RF-modulated pump signal (as opposed to the prior art
CW signals). The modulation frequency and index of the RF-modulated pump signal
are controlled to impart a sufficient degree of "randomness" to the presence of
the pump signal at each wavelength, thus minimizing cross talk between the signals
and improving the transfer of power from the pump signal to the plurality of optical
input signals.
