Optical Signal Branching With Adaptive FEC for Redundant Links
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional optical communication systems using optical couplers for redundancy suffer from low branching ratios for standby systems, leading to low received power and increased error rates, which are mitigated by increasing error correction iterations at the cost of higher power consumption.
Innovation Solution
An optical communication system with asymmetric branching ratios and adaptive error correction decoding, where the active system uses fewer iterations and the standby system uses more iterations based on signal intensity or experimental results to maintain power efficiency and reduce error rates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If error correction decoding iterations are increased to reduce error rate, then reliability is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different numbers of error correction decoding iterations to different reception units based on their specific conditions. The active reception unit uses a first number of iterations while standby reception units use a second number of iterations, optimizing the balance between error correction performance and power consumption for each unit's operational context.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent dynamically adjusts the number of error correction decoding iterations based on system state. When a reception unit transitions from standby to active status, or when communication disconnection is detected, the iteration count changes accordingly. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to maintain reliability while minimizing power consumption during normal operation.
2Use of energy by moving object
If asymmetric branching ratio is used to increase signal strength for active system, then received power is improved, but error correction performance for standby system deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent compensates for the lower received power in standby reception units by allocating a greater number of error correction decoding iterations to these units. This localized adjustment ensures that each reception unit, regardless of its received power level, achieves adequate error correction performance suited to its operational role.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs asymmetric branching ratios in the optical coupler to deliberately create different received power levels for active and standby reception units. This asymmetric power distribution is then balanced through asymmetric allocation of error correction decoding iterations, where standby units receive more iterations to compensate for their lower signal strength.
3Reliability
If optical coupler is used to create redundant system, then system reliability is improved, but complexity of error correction management increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a communication disconnection detection unit that monitors the status of optical signals and provides feedback to the error correction decoding units. When disconnection is detected, the system automatically adjusts the number of decoding iterations for affected reception units, enabling automated management of error correction in redundant configurations without requiring complex manual intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The error correction decoding units automatically adjust their own operation parameters based on notifications from the communication disconnection detection unit. Each reception unit independently manages its error correction iterations based on its operational state, reducing the overall management complexity of the redundant system while maintaining high reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
An optical communication system includes a transmission unit that performs error correction encoding on information to be transmitted, and outputs a result of the error correction encoding as an optical signal, an optical coupler that branches the optical signal, and outputs first and second optical signals, first and second error correction decoding units that each perform error correction decoding on an optical signal, and a communication disconnection detection unit that, upon detection of a disconnection of communication of the first optical signal, notifies, of the disconnection, the second error correction decoding unit. The second error correction decoding unit performs error correction decoding on the second optical signal when a notification of the disconnection has been received. The first error correction decoding unit performs the error correction decoding with a smaller number of iterations than the number of iterations used by the second error correction decoding unit.