The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 12, 2006
Filed:
Oct. 27, 2000
Michael G. Taylor, Laurel, MD (US);
Michael G. Taylor, Laurel, MD (US);
CIENA Corporation, Linthicum, MD (US);
Abstract
Residual birefringence in optical fibers causes polarization mode dispersion (PMD). The invention compensates for this by using a polarization mode dispersion compensator and a polarimeter. The PMD compensator has a variable PMD that may be controlled. The output of the PMD compensator is monitored by a polarimeter. By dithering the wavelength of the optical signal, the polarimeter may provide an accurate measure of the PMD. A controller uses this measurement to control the PMD compensator. The PMD compensating scheme may also be incorporated in a wavelength division multiplexed system with each channel having its own PMD compensator. In addition, a control method may control any polarization mode dispersion compensator based on feedback from a polarimeter to reduce the PMD of the input signal. Instead of using a polarimeter, a Q detector may be used to monitor the output of the PMD compensator. The Q detector provides a measurement of the edge sharpness and, thereby, a measure of the PMD. The controller may use the Q value to control the PMD compensator.