Patent ID: 8660020

Claim:
A networking system comprising: a transmission node that includes a first optical transmitter and a second optical transmitter that output first and second optical signals, respectively, the first optical signal carrying a first portion of a data signal and the second optical signal carrying a second portion of the data signal, the first and second optical signals having first and second wavelengths, respectively, such that the first and second portions of the data signal are output from the transmission node at substantially the same time; an intermediate node, the first portion of the data signal arriving at the intermediate node prior to the second portion of the data signal, the intermediate node including: an optical demultiplexer that receives the first and second optical signals and supplies the first optical signal and the second optical signal from first and second outputs, respectively; a first converter that converts the first optical signal to a first electrical signal; a second converter that converts the second optical signal to a second electrical signal; a first skew compensating module coupled to the first converter that adjusts a first skew associated with the first electrical signal by a first amount of delay; a second skew compensating module coupled to the first skew compensating module that further adjusts the first skew by a second amount of delay less than the first amount of delay; a third skew compensating module coupled to the second converter that adjusts a second skew associated with the second electrical signal by a third amount of delay; a fourth skew compensating module coupled to the third skew compensating module that further adjusts the second skew by a fourth amount of delay less than the third amount of delay; and an electrical multiplexer coupled to the second and fourth skew compensating modules that multiplexes the skew adjusted first and second electrical signals, the skew adjusted first and second electrical signals being output from the second and fourth skew compensating modules, respectively.