An O-band optical communication system includes a transmitter, a receiver, and an optical fiber system coupled between the transmitter and the receiver. The optical fiber system includes at least a first fiber segment, with a positive dispersion-wavelength gradient and a first zero dispersion wavelength, coupled in series to a second fiber segment, with a negative dispersion-wavelength gradient and a second zero dispersion wavelength. When an optical signal propagating along the first fiber segment has a wavelength shorter than the first zero dispersion wavelength and experiences negative dispersion, at least partial positive dispersion compensation is provided by propagation along the second fiber segment. When light of the optical signal propagating along the first fiber segment has a wavelength longer than the first zero dispersion wavelength and experiences positive dispersion, at least partial negative dispersion compensation is provided by propagation along the second fiber segment.

An optical fiber transmission system and method for using the system are provided. The system may include a span of transmission fiber for transmitting light signals through the optical fiber transmission system. The system may include a dispersion compensating module coupled to the span of transmission fiber. The system may include a switchable module including a set of selectable light signal paths, the set of selectable light signal paths including at least one path through a dispersion compensating element. The system may include a processor coupled to the switchable module for selectively monitoring the set of selectable light signal paths, where the processor is further configured to derive a metric based on the set of selectable light signal paths for controlling the dispersion compensating module.

An optical communication device includes an excitation light source that outputs excitation light, a multiplexer that multiplexes signal light and the excitation light outputted from the excitation light source, a first nonlinear optical medium into which the multiplexed excitation light and the signal light are inputted, and a second nonlinear optical medium that is coupled to the first nonlinear optical medium in series and has an optical property different from that of the first nonlinear optical medium.

A transmission system includes a plurality of nodes in which respective adjacent nodes are coupled by a first kind of optical fiber compatible with light in a first wavelength band or a second kind of optical fiber compatible with light in a second wavelength band, wherein each of the plurality of nodes includes a transmitting node that generates a wavelength-multiplexed optical signal in the first wavelength band by carrying out wavelength multiplexing of a plurality of optical signals and transmits the wavelength-multiplexed optical signal, a receiving node that demultiplexes the plurality of optical signals from the wavelength-multiplexed optical signal and receives the plurality of optical signals, and one or more relay nodes that relay the wavelength-multiplexed optical signal from the transmitting node to the receiving node through the first kind or the second kind of optical fiber.

An O-band optical communication system includes a transmitter, a receiver, and an optical fiber system coupled between the transmitter and the receiver. The optical fiber system includes at least a first fiber segment, with a positive dispersion-wavelength gradient and a first zero dispersion wavelength, coupled in series to a second fiber segment, with a negative dispersion-wavelength gradient and a second zero dispersion wavelength. When an optical signal propagating along the first fiber segment has a wavelength shorter than the first zero dispersion wavelength and experiences negative dispersion, at least partial positive dispersion compensation is provided by propagation along the second fiber segment. When light of the optical signal propagating along the first fiber segment has a wavelength longer than the first zero dispersion wavelength and experiences positive dispersion, at least partial negative dispersion compensation is provided by propagation along the second fiber segment.

A method for noise suppression in a colorless optical add/drop system implemented prior to a colorless optical add/drop device includes, subsequent to receiving an optical signal from an optical modem, filtering the optical signal with a wavelength blocking filter to suppress out of band Amplified Stimulated Emission (ASE) in order to prevent noise funneling in the colorless optical add/drop device; and providing the filtered optical signal with the out of band ASE suppressed therein to a multiplexer port in the colorless optical add/drop device. The method can include, prior to the filtering, amplifying the optical signal with a single channel amplifier, wherein the single channel amplifier can include a pump laser shared with one or more additional single channel amplifiers.

A transmission system includes a plurality of nodes in which respective adjacent nodes are coupled by a first kind of optical fiber compatible with light in a first wavelength band or a second kind of optical fiber compatible with light in a second wavelength band, wherein each of the plurality of nodes includes a transmitting node that generates a wavelength-multiplexed optical signal in the first wavelength band by carrying out wavelength multiplexing of a plurality of optical signals and transmits the wavelength-multiplexed optical signal, a receiving node that demultiplexes the plurality of optical signals from the wavelength-multiplexed optical signal and receives the plurality of optical signals, and one or more relay nodes that relay the wavelength-multiplexed optical signal from the transmitting node to the receiving node through the first kind or the second kind of optical fiber.

Optical communication systems include optical time domain reflectometers that are coupled to link fibers to determine link fiber lengths. After length measurement, chromatic dispersion associated with the measured length is estimated. In some examples, the estimated chromatic dispersion is compensated. A single OTDR can be used to assess a pair of link fibers coupling first and second network nodes by injecting a probe pulse at a common end of the link fibers or by routing the probe pulses from a remote end of one link fiber into a remote end of a second fiber.

A method in which a plurality of transmit signals are generated at data rates that are offset from each other by inserting an idle data block into a data stream for one or more transmit signals of the plurality of transmit signals to increase a data rate for the one or more transmit signals, thereby minimizing detectable electromagnetic interference at a particular frequency. The method further includes converting each transmit signal of the plurality of transmit signals to a corresponding optical transmit signal of a plurality of optical transmit signals for transmission via a corresponding channel of a plurality of channels of an optical network device and transmitting the plurality of optical transmit signals via respective ones of the plurality of channels for transmission on respective optical fibers.

An apparatus, e.g. an optical data transmission device, is configured to propagate a non-return-to-zero (NRZ) modulated optical communication signal. A plurality of optical amplifiers are configured to receive the modulated optical signal. An optical transmission line includes a sequence of at least five spans of optical fiber, with each adjacent pair of the spans being connected by one of the optical amplifiers. Between about 10% and about 75% of the optical amplifiers include a dispersion compensation module (DCM) and a remainder of the optical amplifiers do not include a DCM, and at least two of said optical amplifiers are optically coupled between a first and a second optical add-drop multiplexer.