US Patent 9485013 Systems and methods for optical dark section conditioning

A method for optical dark section conditioning includes determining a section in an optical network is a dark section that includes connected fiber spans that are functional with no traffic carrying channels present thereon; and causing generation of at least one of broadband noise and a signal at a head end of the dark section. An apparatus configured to perform optical dark section conditioning includes logic configured to determine a section in an optical network is a dark section that includes connected fiber spans that are functional with no traffic carrying channels present thereon; and logic configured to cause generation of at least one of broadband noise and a signal at a head end of the dark section.