Patent ID: 6317238
Filing Date: 2001-11-13
Classification: G02B,H04B

Abstract:
A WDM optical communication system, comprising:a transmitter and a receiver;an optical fiber transmission path coupling said transmitter to said receiver, said transmission path including an optical fiber span having at least one optical amplifier therein;a dispersion compensator disposed at an intermediate point along said optical fiber span, said dispersion compensator configured to compensate for dispersion in at least said optical fiber span at a prescribed wavelength; andwherein said optical fiber span has a first fiber portion defining a first effective area region through which optical energy, at a plurality of wavelengths, effectively propagates and a second fiber portion defining a second effective area region through which optical energy, at said plurality of wavelengths, effectively propagates, said first effective area region having an associated first dispersion characteristic and said second effective area region having an associated second dispersion characteristic, andwherein said first and second effective area regions have different dispersion characteristics as to obtain an average dispersion slope for said plurality of wavelengths.