Chromatic dispersion compensation system and method

Abstract

Dispersion compensation is provided in an optical transmission system. An optical line couples first and second transceivers, and a plurality of amplifiers coupled to the optical line are spaced throughout the optical line with variable span distances. A plurality of dispersion compensation modules include a coarse granularity fiber, a connector, and a fine granularity fiber. A memory is associated with the dispersion compensators to provide information related to the value of the dispersion compensation.

1 . A method of reducing inventory of dispersion compensation fibers, the method comprising:
 determining respective lengths of a plurality of fine granularity fibers based on a dispersion compensation accuracy of at least one fiber span in an optical transmission system;   determining respective lengths of a plurality of coarse granularity fibers based on the determined respective lengths of the plurality of fine granularity fibers; and   stocking the plurality of fine granularity fibers and the plurality of coarse granularity fibers in accordance with their determined respective lengths.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising determining the dispersion compensation accuracy for each fiber span in the optical transmission system; 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein a distance of each fiber span is less than approximately 109 kilometers. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the stocked plurality of fine granularity fibers defines a first quantity and the stocked plurality of coarse granularity fibers defines a second quantity that is approximately equal to the first quantity. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determined respective lengths of the plurality of fine granularity fibers are based upon 1 kilometer increments. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determined respective lengths of the plurality of coarse granularity fibers are based upon 10 kilometer increments. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of fine granularity fibers are configured to compensate for dispersion in a range of −9 kilometers to +9 kilometers. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising manufacturing the plurality of fine granularity fibers and the plurality of coarse granularity fibers in accordance with their determined respective lengths. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising assigning an identifier to at least one of the plurality of fine granularity fibers. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the identifier corresponds to the length of the respective fine granularity fiber. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the identifier corresponds to a resolution of the respective fine granularity fiber. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein each assigned identifier is configured to be stored in a memory that is configured to be attached to the respective fine granularity fiber. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising assigning an identifier to at least one of the plurality of coarse granularity fibers. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the identifier corresponds to the length of the respective coarse granularity fiber. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the identifier corresponds to a resolution of the respective fine granularity fiber. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein each assigned identifier is configured to be stored in a memory that is configured to be attached to the respective coarse granularity fiber. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising electronically polling the stocked plurality of fine granularity fibers and the stocked plurality of coarse granularity modules to generate an inventory listing. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the respective lengths of the plurality of coarse granularity fibers is further based on a range of dispersion that requires compensation.