Method and apparatus for per-band compensation with gap-free band structure for high speed DWDM transmission

A method of transmitting a multi-wavelength optical signal through an optical transmission system, the system including a transmitting device configured to transmit at least one multi-wavelength optical signal, a receiving device configured to receive the at least one multi-wavelength optical signal, and an optical transmission path interconnecting the transmitting device and the receiving device and configured to carry the at least one multi-wavelength optical signal, the method comprising the steps of:

• transmitting a first multi-wavelength optical signal along the optical transmission path by the transmitting device;
• receiving the first optical signal by a band splitting device included in the optical transmission path;
• splitting the first optical signal to obtain a plurality of bands of component wavelengths by the band splitting device, each band comprising at least one wavelength;
• and
• compensating dispersion contained in each band by a first dispersion compensating device included in the optical transmission path.

An optical transmission system, comprising:

• a transmitting device configured to transmit at least one multi-wavelength optical signal;
• a receiving device configured to receive the at least one multi-wavelength optical signal;
• and
• an optical transmission path interconnecting the transmitting device and the receiving device and configured to carry the at least one multi-wavelength optical signal,
• wherein the optical transmission path includes
• at least one first optical add/drop device configured to receive a multi-wavelength optical signal and to provide at least one wavelength dropped from the optical signal,
• at least one second optical add/drop device configured to receive at least one wavelength that is to be added to the optical signal, and
• wherein the optical transmission path further includes respective dispersion compensating devices coupled at an input of the first optical add/drop device and an output of the second optical add/drop device and configured to compensate dispersion contained in the optical signal.

An optical transmission system, comprising:

• a transmitting device configured to transmit at least one multi-wavelength optical signal;
• a receiving device configured to receive the at least one multi-wavelength optical signal;
• and
• an optical transmission path interconnecting the transmitting device and the receiving device and configured to carry the at least one multi-wavelength optical signal,
• wherein the optical transmission path includes
• a first dispersion compensating device configured to receive a plurality of wavelength bands of a first multi-wavelength optical signal and to compensate dispersion contained in each band, each band comprising at least one wavelength, and
• a band combining device configured to receive the plurality of dispersion-compensated bands, and to combine the plurality of bands to generate a second multi-wavelength optical signal.

A method of transmitting a multi-wavelength optical signal through an optical transmission system, the system including a transmitting device configured to transmit at least one multi-wavelength optical signal, a receiving device configured to receive the at least one multi-wavelength optical signal, and an optical transmission path interconnecting the transmitting device and the receiving device and configured to carry the at least one multi-wavelength optical signal, the method comprising the steps of:

• transmitting a plurality of bands of component wavelengths of a first multi-wavelength optical signal along the optical transmission path by the transmitting device, each band comprising at least one wavelength;
• receiving the plurality of bands of component wavelengths by a dispersion compensating device included in the optical transmission path;
• compensating dispersion contained in each band by the dispersion compensating device;
• and
• combining the plurality of dispersion-compensated bands to obtain a second multi-wavelength optical signal by a band combining device included in the optical transmission path.