Appeal 2007-0490
Application 10/095,716
1 show the pump power being depleted more across the length of the fiber
2 when Raman amplification is used as the pump power is being used to
3 produce Raman amplification. In the second (right) column of text, Wen
4 discloses that combining Raman amplification with erbium amplification
5 produces greater gain then if Erbium amplification were used alone.
6
7 ANALYSIS DIRECTED TO § 102 REJECTION OVER WEN
8 Appellants argue claims 5 through 8 as a group. Accordingly we
9 group the claims together and select claim 8 as a representative claim.1
10 Claim 8 recites:
11 A method for amplifying an optical signal, comprising the step of
12 simultaneous providing Raman and erbium amplification to an optical
13 signal using a common source of pump energy, such that a gain slope
14 of said Raman amplification and a gain slope of said erbium
15 amplification combine to produce a desired gain profile for said
16 optical amplifier.
17
18 Claim 8 recites no limitation concerning the erbium doping within a fiber or
19 the control of the different amplification methods. Further, the only
20 limitation within claim 8 which limits the desired gain profile recites that it
21 is produced by the combination of Raman amplification and erbium
22 amplification. As discussed supra we find that Wen teaches that a signal can
23 be amplified by an amplifier which uses both Erbium amplification and
24 Raman amplification. Wen teaches that a single pump source can be used to
25 produce both amplification methods and that the gains from the two
1 Appellants’ statements on page 15 of the Brief directed to claims 6-8 does
not constitute a separate argument see 37 C.F.R.§ 41.37(c)(1)(vii) (2006).
11
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