Apparatus and method for compensating chromatic dispersion produced in optical phase conjugation or other types of optical signal conversion

A method of converting an optical signal comprising the steps of:

• applying the optical signal to a nonlinear conversion medium arranged in an optical signal path of the optical signal;
• generating a converted optical signal in the nonlinear conversion medium;
• and
• compensating for chromatic dispersion introduced in the nonlinear conversion medium by providing an amount of chromatic dispersion suitable to offset a portion of the chromatic dispersion introduced in the converted signal by the nonlinear conversion medium.

A method of optical signal transmission, for use in a system including

• an optical fiber span having at least one segment with a first portion and a second portion,
• an optical signal transmitter at one end of the optical fiber span for supplying an optical signal to the optical fiber span, and
• an optical signal receiver at an opposite end of the optical fiber span for receiving the optical signal from the optical fiber span, the method comprising the steps of:
• phase conjugating the optical signal in an optical phase conjugator provided between the first and the second portions of the at least one segment;
• and
• compensating for an amount of chromatic dispersion introduced in the phase-conjugated optical signal by the optical phase conjugator.

An optical communication system comprising:

• an optical fiber span including at least one segment having a first portion and a second portion;
• an optical signal transmitter at one end of the optical fiber span for supplying an optical signal to the optical fiber span;
• an optical signal receiver at an opposite end of the optical fiber span for receiving the optical signal from the optical fiber span;
• an optical phase conjugator arranged between the first and the second portions of the at least one segment for phase conjugating the optical signal;
• and
• a dispersion compensator arranged in the fiber span to compensate for an amount of chromatic dispersion introduced in the phase-conjugated optical signal by the optical phase conjugator.

An apparatus for converting an optical signal, comprising:

• a nonlinear conversion medium arranged within an optical signal path and adapted to receive the optical signal, wherein the conversion medium includes a plurality of nonlinear elements;
• a pump signal source for providing a pump signal to the nonlinear conversion medium, such that the pump signal and optical signal are mixed within the nonlinear conversion medium to generate a converted optical signal;
• and
• at least one dispersion compensator arranged in the optical signal path to compensate for chromatic dispersion introduced in the converted optical signal by one or more of the nonlinear elements.

A method of converting an optical signal, comprising the steps of:

• providing a nonlinear conversion medium in an optical signal path and adapted to receive the optical signal, the conversion medium including a plurality of nonlinear elements;
• providing a pump signal to the nonlinear conversion medium;
• mixing the optical signal and pump signal in the nonlinear conversion medium to generate a converted optical signal;
• and
• providing at least one dispersion compensator arranged in the optical signal path to compensate for chromatic dispersion introduced in the converted optical signal by one or more of the nonlinear elements.

A method of converting an optical signal, comprising the steps of:

• providing a nonlinear conversion medium comprising a length of dispersion-flattened fiber having a low dispersion over a wavelength region;
• providing a pump signal to the nonlinear conversion medium;
• and
• mixing the optical signal and pump signal in the nonlinear conversion medium to generate a converted optical signal.