Patent ID: 7248762

Claim:
A multi-mode optical fiber link comprising: a) an optical source comprising a modulator electrically coupled to a bias and data multiplexing circuit, the optical source having an output that is optically coupled to an input of a first single mode optical fiber, the optical source generating an optical signal with relatively low time varying phase and sideband information; b) a first spatial mode converter having an input that is coupled to the output of the single mode optical fiber, the first spatial mode converter conditioning a modal profile of the optical signal while maintaining the relatively low sideband information; c) a multi-mode optical fiber having an input that is coupled to an output of the first spatial mode converter; and d) a second spatial mode converter having an input that is coupled to an output of the multi-mode optical fiber and an output that is coupled to a second single mode optical fiber, the second spatial mode converter reducing a number of optical modes in the optical signal, wherein both the first and the second spatial mode converters increase an effective modal bandwidth of the optical signal while maintaining the relatively low sideband information.