Optical communication system

An optical communication system, comprising:

• a transmitter for generating a phase-modulated optical signal (Sa, Sb, . . . , Sk);
• a receiver for receiving the phase-modulated optical signal;
• an optical communication link between the transmitter section and the receiver section,
• the optical communication link being a dispersion-managed optical communication link comprising dispersion-compensating elements propagating the phase-modulated optical signal at substantially constant optical power, and
• the receiver comprising a dispersive element having a prescribed dispersion, the dispersive element receiving and converting the phase-modulated optical signal into a corresponding intensity-modulated optical signal, and an optical intensity detector fed with the intensity-modulated optical signal.

A method of optically transmitting information, comprising:

• generating a phase-modulated optical carrier according to the information to be transmitted;
• propagating the modulated optical carrier through an optical link;
• and
• receiving and demodulating the modulated optical carrier,
• said propagating the modulated optical carrier comprising managing a dispersion of the optical link to keep almost constant the optical power of the phase-modulated optical carrier, and
• said receiving and demodulating the modulated optical carrier comprising converting the phase-modulated optical carrier into a corresponding intensity-modulated optical carrier by subjecting the phase-modulated optical carrier to a prescribed dispersion, and demodulating the intensity-modulated optical carrier.