WDM optical communication system having a dispersion slope compensating element

The present invention is directed toward optical communication system. In particular, optical communication systems providing dispersion slope compensation. Consistent with the present invention, in-fiber Bragg gratings are used to demultiplex optical signals in a WDM optical communication system. The in-fiber Bragg gratings also perform dispersion compensation of the selected optical signals. As a result, additional segments of DCF for further dispersion compensation are rendered unnecessary. Improved performance is thus achieved with an inexpensive and simplified system design.