Optimal packaging of dispersion-compensating fibers for matched nonlinear compensation and reduced optical noise.

A method of packaging dispersion-compensating fibers (DCFs) is discussed that achieves optimal nonlinearity compensation and a good signal-to-noise ratio simultaneously. An optimally packaged dispersion-compensating module (DCM) may consist of portions of DCFs with higher and lower loss coefficients. Such optimized DCMs may be paired with transmission fibers to form scaled translation-symmetric lines that could effectively compensate for signal distortions due to dispersion and nonlinearity, with or without optical phase conjugation.