Patent ID: 7466923

Claim:
An optical communication system that compensates for polarization mode dispersion (PMD), comprising; an optical source that transmits two or more optical signals having different optical frequency bands; a first optical compensator that receives the two or more optical signals and rotates at least one polarization state of the two or more optical signals based on an error condition to compensate for PMD; a first birefringent optical conduit that receives the rotated optical signals and disperses the rotated optical signals; and an optical receiver that receives the dispersed optical signals, wherein the receiver measures the error condition of at least a first dispersed optical signal of the dispersed optical signals; wherein the optical compensator adjusts the PMD of at least the first dispersed optical signal by changing the polarization state of rotation based on the error condition to compensate for PMD, and wherein the first optical compensator is positioned at a location between the optical source and the optical receiver and defined by the ratio Ψ 1/ Ψ 2; and further wherein Ψ 1/ Ψ 2 is less than approximately 1.2, and wherein Ψ 1 is the average PMD of a first optical conduit between the optical compensator and optical source, and Ψ 2 is the average PMD of the second optical conduit between the optical compensator and optical receiver.