Patent ID: 7373089
Filing Date: 2008-05-13
Classification: H04B

Abstract:
1. A method of transmitting a data signal over an optical fiber, comprising: generating, from said data signal, an optical signal including a distorted version of said data signal, said step of generating an optical signal including intentionally distorting at least a portion of said data signal, the step of generating an optical signal including controlling the power of a laser supplying a laser signal to an optical input of an optical modulator to a power level suitable for use with self phase modulation, said optical modulator being used to perform an optical modulation operation that produces said optical signal; transmitting said optical signal over said optical fiber, at least some of the intentional distortion introduced into said data signal being corrected by the transmission properties of said optical fiber during said transmitting step; and wherein said step of generating an optical signal includes: using an electrical signal with a large peak to peak voltage and a symmetric shape to control the modulation of said data signal onto an optical signal by an optical modulator, said large peak to peak voltage being sufficiently large to cause said optical modulator to operate in a non-linear manner when modulating at least a portion of said data signal.