Patent ID: 8488959

Claim:
A system for optical signal dispersion and parameter monitoring comprising: a tunable filter configured to receive an optical signal comprising a plurality of channels and configured to filter a portion of one channel from the plurality of channels, wherein, during dispersion monitoring, the portion includes a test signal; a polarization beam splitter (PBS) coupled to the tunable filter and configured to receive the portion from the tunable filter and split the portion into a first polarization beam and a second polarization beam; a first photodetector coupled to the PBS and configured to receive the first polarization beam from the PBS and convert the first polarization beam into a first electrical signal; a second photodetector coupled to the PBS and configured to receive the second polarization beam from the PBS and convert the second polarization beam into a second electrical signal; and a control unit coupled to the first photodetector and the second photodetector and configured to: receive the first and second electrical signals; determine optical dispersion in the portion based on the first and second electrical signals when the portion includes the test signal; and determine an optical signal parameter of the portion selected from the group consisting of channel power, channel wavelength, optical spectrum analysis (OSA) and optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) based on the first and second electrical signals when the portion does not include the test signal.