| 摘要 |
method and apparatus is provided for compensating for dispersion in a WDM optical communication system that includes a transmitter, receiver, and an optical fiber transmission path coupling the transmitter to the receiver. The method begins by imparting dispersion precompensation to a WDM optical signal having a prescribed bandwidth before the WDM optical signal traverses the optical fiber transmission path. The dispersion compensation is provided by first dividing the prescribed bandwidth of the WDM optical signal into a first plurality of sub-bands, and, within each of the first plurality of sub-bands, compensating each wavelength in the sub-band for dispersion by imparting a first fraction of a delay that would be needed to compensate for dispersion at a prescribed wavelength. The prescribed wavelength is equal to an average of the wavelengths located in the sub-band. The first plurality of sub-bands are then recombined to reconstitute the WDM optical signal and the reconstituted WDM optical signal is directed onto the optical fiber transmission path. The method continues by imparting dispersion postcompensation to the WDM optical signal after the WDM optical signal traverses the optical fiber transmission path by dividing the prescribed bandwidth of the WDM optical signal into a second plurality of sub-bands, and, within each of the second plurality of sub-bands, compensating each wavelength in the sub-band for dispersion by imparting a second fraction of a delay that would be needed to compensate for dispersion at a prescribed wavelength. The prescribed wavelength is equal to an average of the wavelengths located in the sub-band. The wavelengths in the sub-bands of the first plurality of sub-bands do not form a one-to-one correspondence to the wavelengths in the sub-bands of the second plurality of sub-bands. |
