Patent ID: 7043122

Claim:
A polarization mode dispersion compensator comprising: a separator that aligns orthogonal first and second polarization components of a received optical signal with respect to two orthogonal axes of a polarization beam splitter using optical signal information output via a second path of a first path and the second path of the two outputs of the polarization beam splitter, splits the first and second polarization components, and transmits the first polarization component via the first path and the second polarization component via the second path; a differential time delay remover that receives the first and second polarization components that has been split to remove a differential time delay between the first and second polarization components; and a first optical tap that receives the second optical signal via the second path; a photodetector that converts the optical signal diverged by the first optical tap into an electric signal; and a band-pass filter that filters a particular frequency component of an electrical spectrum of the electric signal.