Microwave-Domain Analog Predistortion Based on Chirped Delay Lines for Dispersion Compensation of 10-Gb/s Optical Communication Signals

Optical chromatic dispersion compensation is achieved by analog predistortion of the signal in the microwave domain exploiting a chirped delay line at the transmitter. We designed a microwave device that guarantees high compactness of the solution and increased performance in terms of uncompensated propagation reach. Error-free, 10-Gb/s transmission over 225 km of uncompensated fiber is experimentally demonstrated without the use of coherent detection, digital equalizers, or optical dispersion compensators.