Patent ID: 6959137

Claim:
An optical fiber communications system, comprising: at least one source of optical energy; an optical fiber cable including at least one positive dispersion optical fiber coupled to said at least one source, and at least one inverse dispersion optical fiber coupled to the positive dispersion optical fiber, wherein the inverse dispersion optical fiber includes: a core region having an index of refraction n 1 , a radius A and a diameter 2×A, where A is a positive number, a cladding region having an index of refraction n 0 , a first trench region between the core region and the cladding region and adjacent the core region, the first trench region having a negative relative index of refraction n 2 , the first trench region having a radius B and a diameter 2×B, where B is a positive number, and wherein a ratio (2×A)/(2×B) is less than or equal to approximately 0.45, a first barrier region between the core region and the cladding region and adjacent the trench region, the first barrier region having a positive relative index of refraction n 3 , a second trench region between the core region and the cladding region and adjacent the first barrier region, the second trench region having a negative relative index of refraction n 4 , wherein the inverse dispersion optical fiber has an effective area, Aeff, that is greater than 31 micrometers squared (μm 2 ) at a transmission wavelength of approximately 1550 nanometers (nm), and wherein the inverse dispersion optical fiber has relative dispersion slope (RDS) that ranges from approximately 0.0022 nm −1 ≦RDS≦0.0067 nm −1 at a transmission wavelength of approximately 1550 nm; and at least one receiver coupled to the inverse dispersion optical fiber for receiving optical energy from the source.