Fitel USA Corporation

Tsing Hua Her

Paul S Westbrook

John A Rogers

Stefan Hunsche

Benjamin John Eggleton

Gregory Raybon

Michael Fishteyn

Stephan Wielandy

An optical performance monitor particularly well-suited for use in dense wavelength-division multiplexed (DWDM) systems includes both a nonlinear optical detector and a conventional linear detector. The nonlinear optical detector, which may comprise a quadratic detector, is used to provide information, on a channel-by-channel basis, regarding chromatic dispersion, polarization mode dispersion and accumulated amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise in each signal wavelength.

Optical performance monitor utilizing nonlinear detection

Embodiments of the invention include system for monitoring the effectiveness of pulse shaping in a nonlinear optical fiber (). The spectral content of the pulse, after passing through the nonlinear fiber (), provides an indication of how effectively the pulse was regenerated. A portion of the pulse exiting the nonlinear fiber is tapped off and its pulse energy is measured in at least one selected spectral region. The selected spectral region is one in which the pulse tends to gain energy when effective regeneration is taking place. The information concerning the effectiveness of pulse shaping in a nonlinear optical fiber is fed back to dynamically change the residual dispersion at the regenerator input. The spectral measurement leads to a control signal () to indicate a level of performance of the system, or to improve the performance of the system by adjusting an operational parameter.

Nonlinear device comprising a spectrally broadening fiber

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New Providence, NJ, United States of America

Tsing Hua Her