Devices and methods for dynamic dispersion compensation

A dispersion compensating device for an optical signal having a plurality of wavelength channels lying within a wavelengh range, the dispersion compensating device comprising:

• a negative dispersion fiber having an input configured to receive the optical signal, the negative dispersion fiber having a length and dispersion sufficient to remove any positive chirp from each wavelength channel of the optical signal, thereby outputting a negatively chirped optical signal:
• an amplifying device configured to amplify the negatively chirped optical signal;
• and
• a nonlinear positive dispersion fiber configured to receive the negatively chirped optical signal, wherein the amnlifning device amplifies each wavelength channel to a level sufficient to cause self-phase modulation of each wavelength channel in the nonlinear positive dispersion fiber, wherein the nonlinear positive dispersion fiber has an effective area of less than about 35 μm2, and has a dispersion more positive than about 8 ps/nm/km.

A dispersion compensating device for an optical signal having a plurality of wavelength channels lying within a wavelength range, the dispersion compensating device comprising:

• a negative dispersion fiber having an input configured to receive the optical signal, the negative dispersion fiber having a length and dispersion sufficient to remove any positive chirp from each wavelength channel of the optical signal, thereby outputting a negatively chirped optical signal;
• an amplifying device configured to amplify the negatively chirped optical signal;
• and
• a nonlinear positive dispersion fiber to receive the negatively chirped optical signal, wherein the amplifying device is a Raman pump source operatively coupled to the nonlinear positive dispersion fiber, the Raman pump source being configured to amplify the optical signal in the nonlinear positive dispersion fiber.

A method for performing dispersion compensation of an optical signal, the optical signal having a plurality of wavelength channels lying within a wavelength range, the method comprising the steps of:

• removing any positive dispersion from each wavelength channel of the optical signal, thereby forming a negatively chirped optical signal;
• amplifying the negatively chirped optical signal;
• and
• propagating the negatively chirped optical signal in a nonlinear positive dispersion fiber, wherein the nonlinear positive dispersion fiber has an effective area of less than about 35 μm2.