Patent ID: 7840103

Claim:
A signal processing system having a passband, comprising: a demultiplexer having an input port to receive an optical signal, a first plurality of branches to provide a plurality of demultiplexed optical signals, and demultiplexing circuitry, the demultiplexing circuit being configured to demultiplex the optical signal received at the input port to provide each of the plurality of demultiplexed optical signals to a corresponding one of the first plurality of branches, the demultiplexing circuitry introducing a first function of chromatic dispersion within a passband into the demultiplexed optical signals, the first function of chromatic dispersion within the passband having a first magnitude and a first sign; and a multiplexer having a second plurality of branches receiving the plurality of demultiplexed optical signals, an output port to provide a multiplexed optical signal, and multiplexing circuitry coupled between the second plurality of branches and the output port of the multiplexer for multiplexing the plurality of demultiplexed optical signals received by the second plurality of branches to provide the multiplexed optical signal to the output port, the multiplexing circuitry introducing a second function of chromatic dispersion within the passband into the multiplexed optical signal, the second function of chromatic dispersion having a second magnitude and a second sign opposite the first sign within the passband, such that a total function of chromatic dispersion in the passband corresponding to a sum of the first and second functions of chromatic dispersion has a third magnitude, which is less than the first magnitude.