Patent ID: 6980738

Claim:
A communications network comprising: an optical transmitter emitting an optical signal at a first wavelength; an optical communication path optically coupled to said optical transmitter, said optical communication path being configured to carry said optical signal; a service channel emitter optically coupled to one of said optical communication path and an alternate optical communication path, said service channel emitter supplying a service channel optical signal including data representing signal quality or control information to said one of said optical communication path and said alternate optical communication path, said service channel optical signal being at a second wavelength different than said first wavelength; a dispersion compensating module optically coupled to said optical communication path, said dispersion compensating module having an associated dispersion characteristic; and a control circuit operatively coupled to said dispersion compensation module, said control circuit being configured to adjust a dispersion characteristic associated with said dispersion compensating module in response to said data carried by said service channel optical signal.