A key technology for meeting the exploding demand for ever-more bandwidth in communications networks is dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM), which allows multiple colors of traffic-carrying light to be sent down a single fiber. DWDM systems, however, add complexity to a network, requiring a whole new set of optical components, such as optical attenuators, multiplexers and demultiplexers, and individual laser transmitters that send different wavelengths down the fiber…