Patent ID: 6985283

Claim:
An optical element operable to compensate for dispersion associated with a transmission link, the optical element comprising: an input port operable to receive an optical signal from at least one transmission link, the optical signal comprising one or more optical signal wavelengths, the at least one transmission link comprising a distributed Raman amplifier coupled to the input port and having a length, an optical loss, a dispersion, a sign of dispersion, and a cut-off wavelength; a Raman gain fiber coupled to the input port and operable to amplify the optical signal and to compensate for dispersion associated with the at least one transmission link, wherein the Raman gain fiber comprises a dispersion-length product that is approximately equal in magnitude to a dispersion-length product of the at least one transmission link and wherein the Raman gain fiber comprises a sign of dispersion that is opposite a sign of dispersion associated with the at least one transmission link; a first pump source coupled to the Raman gain fiber and operable to generate a first pump signal that traverses the Raman gain fiber in a first direction; and a second pump source coupled to the Raman gain fiber and operable to generate a second pump signal that traverses the Raman gain fiber in a direction counter to the first direction, wherein the first pump signal and the second pump signal operate to compensate for the optical loss of the transmission link and an optical loss of the Raman gain fiber; and an output port for outputting the amplified optical signal.