Electrical detector for adaptive control of chromatic dispersion in optical systems

The present invention relates generally to optical communication systems, and particularly to a method and apparatus for compensating for chromatic dispersion in optical systems. An optical device for detecting chromatic dispersion is described. The optical device includes a receiver, which converts an optical signal into an electrical signal having a plurality of frequency components. A bandpass section separates the plurality of frequency components and a gain section amplifies each of the plurality of frequency components of the electrical signal. Each of the spectral components has a corresponding voltage level and each voltage level may be compared to known voltage levels of a signal having little or no chromatic dispersion. From this comparison, the amount of chromatic dispersion may be determined. The optical device may be used as an element of a chromatic dispersion compensation device, or as a stand-alone device for measuring the amount of chromatic dispersion in an optical signal. A method of compensating for chromatic dispersion in real-time based on the optical device and dispersion compensator is also described.