Conventionally, an adjustment of an optical power level of an input Pin of
an optical amplifier module is made with an optical variable attenuator.
An optical coupler for measuring the optical power level of Pin and an
optical variable attenuator are replaced by a variable optical coupler.
The branch ratio of the variable optical coupler is varied, whereby the
input optical power level Pin to an optical amplifier module is adjusted.
As a result, an optical loss is reduced by an amount corresponding to the
elimination of the optical attenuator, and also the OSNR of the optical
amplifier module is improved.