OPTICAL PROTECTION SWITCHING FOR SINGLE FIBRE BIDIRECTIONAL WDM OPTICAL RING

Optical protection switching apparatus (10), for a single fibre bidirectional WDM optical ring, comprising: first (12) and second (14) ports for coupling to first and second adjacent portions of a single fibre bidirectional WDM optical ring; an optical splitter (16) comprising an input to receive a WDM aggregate optical signal, and first and second outputs coupled to the first and second ports; an optical switch (108) between the second output and the second port; and processing circuitry (24) to receive at least one of an indication of transmission continuity in the optical ring and an indication of transmission discontinuity in the optical ring, and to generate a switch control signal (20) comprising instructions to cause the optical switch to be open when there is transmission continuity in the optical ring and to cause the optical switch to be closed when there is transmission discontinuity in the optical ring.