Patent ID: 8014669

Claim:
A method, comprising: generating, by a transmitter device, optical pulses, that include two frequencies within an optical channel, where the generating includes: separating, by an interferometer, light into two optical pulses that each correspond to a different one of the two frequencies; tuning, by a tunable filter, the optical pulses to the optical channel; splitting, by a beam splitter, the optical pulses into two portions, outputting, by the beam splitter, at least a portion of the optical pulses to the optical channel; receiving the optical pulses from the optical channel; separating the two frequencies of the optical pulses within the optical channel; measuring arrival times of the optical pulses; calculating a relative group delay difference for the two frequencies of the optical pulses, based on the arrival times; and calculating a residual chromatic dispersion of the channel based on the frequency difference and the calculated relative group delay difference.