What is claimed is:
1. An optical fiber composed of:
at least a section of the first kind having chromatic dispersion not less than a given positive value x and negative chromatic dispersion slope at a given wavelength; and
at least a section of the second kind having chromatic dispersion not more than x and positive chromatic dispersion slope at said given wavelength.
2. An optical fiber according to claim 1, wherein said optical fiber is composed of a core and a cladding which surrounds said core and has a mean refractive index lower than that of said core, at least one of said core and cladding includes regions spaced apart in cross section and made of sub mediums whose refractive indices are different from those of main mediums constituting the optical fiber, and at least one of the cross-sectional areas and the refractive indices of the regions made of the sub mediums change along the fiber axis.
3. An optical fiber according to claim 2, wherein the chromatic dispersion at the given wavelength is larger than 1 psnmkm in said section of the first kind and smaller than 1 psnmkm in said section of the second kind and the total length of the fiber sections whose absolute values of the chromatic dispersion are below 1 psnmkm is less than {fraction (110)} of the full length of the optical fiber.
4. An optical fiber according to claim 2, wherein sections which do not contain sub mediums are spaced apart along the fiber axis.
5. An optical fiber according to claim 2, wherein at least one of the cross-sectional areas and the refractive indices of the regions made of the sub mediums change at a given period along the fiber axis and the other are uniform or change at the same period along the fiber axis.
6. An optical fiber according to claim 5, wherein the given period exceeds 1 m.
7. An optical fiber according to claim 2, further composed of at least a transition section of a given length or more where at least one of the cross-sectional areas and the refractive indices of the regions made of the sub mediums change continuously along the fiber axis and the other are uniform or change continuously along the fiber axis.
8. An optical fiber according to claim 2, wherein said main medium is silica glass and said sub medium is air.
9. An optical fiber having chromatic dispersion not less than a positive value x and negative chromatic dispersion slope at a given wavelength.
10. An optical fiber according to claim 9, composed of a core and a cladding surrounding the core and having a lower mean refractive index than that of said core, wherein at least one of said core and cladding has regions spaced apart in cross section and made of sub mediums whose refractive indices are different from those of main mediums constituting the core and the cladding.
11. A method of making an optical fiber having voids extending along the fiber axis, comprising the steps of:
preparing the preform having a plurality of voids whose cross-sectional areas are uniform along its axis; and
drawing the optical fiber from said preform, wherein a means to measure the area fraction of voids in the drawn optical fiber, a means to adjust the pressure in said voids of the preform and a means to feedback the measured area fraction of voids to adjusting means are included.
12. A method of making an optical fiber according to claim 11, wherein said means to measure the area fraction of voids comprises the sub steps of:
measuring the speed at which the preform is supplied, the speed at which the fiber is drawn and the fiber diameter during fiber drawing; and
calculating the area fraction of voids in said drawn optical fiber from these measured values, the preform diameter and the area fraction of voids in the preform, where the preform diameter and the area fraction of voids in the preform are measured before fiber drawing.
13. A method of making an optical fiber according to claim 11, wherein said means to measure the area fraction of voids comprises the sub steps of:
measuring the speed at which the fiber is drawn, the fiber diameter, the drawing tension and the temperature in drawing furnace during fiber drawing; and
calculating the area fraction of voids in said drawn optical fiber from these measured values.
14. A method of making an optical fiber according to claim 11, further comprising the preprocessing steps of:
making a preform in a single piece;
boring three or more voids in said preform along its axis; and
cleaning the surfaces of the preform at said voids, and wherein
said drawing step includes a means to prevent contaminants from intruding into said voids.
15. A method of making an optical fiber according to claim 14, wherein said boring step comprises the sub steps of:
inserting boring appliances into said preform at a temperature above the glass softening point; and
pulling out said boring appliances from said preform immediately before or after lowering the temperature of said preform.
16. A method of making an optical fiber which contains a plurality of regions made of sub mediums whose refractive indices differ from those of main mediums constituting the optical fiber comprising the steps of:
preparing a preform having a plurality of regions made of sub mediums whose cross-sectional areas are constant along the preform axis; and
drawing the optical fiber from said preform, wherein a means to adjust the heating condition through varying at least one of the temperature of the drawing furnace for heating said preform and the time length for the fiber to pass the drawing furnace is included.
17. A method of making an optical fiber according to claim 16, wherein said drawing step further includes a means to measure the area fraction of sub-medium regions in the drawn optical fiber, and a means to feedback the measured area fraction of sub-medium regions in the drawn optical fiber to said adjusting means.
18. A method of making an optical fiber according to claim 17, wherein said means to measure the area fraction of sub-medium regions comprises the sub steps of:
measuring the speed at which the preform is supplied, the speed at which the fiber is drawn and the fiber diameter during fiber drawing; and
calculating the area fraction of sub-medium regions in said drawn optical fiber from these measured values, the preform diameter and the area fraction of sub-medium regions in the preform, wherein the preform diameter and the area fraction of sub-medium regions in the preform are measured before fiber drawing.
19. A method of making an optical fiber according to claim 17, wherein said means to measure the area fraction of sub-medium regions comprises the sub steps of:
measuring the speed at which the fiber is drawn, the fiber diameter, the drawing tension and the temperature in drawing furnace during fiber drawing; and
calculating the area fraction of sub-medium regions in said drawn optical fiber from these measured values.
20. A method of making an optical fiber according to claim 16, further comprising the preprocessing steps of:
making a preform in a single piece;
boring three or more voids in said preform along its axis; and
cleaning the surfaces of the preform at said voids, and wherein
said drawing step includes a means to prevent contaminants from intruding into said voids.
21. A method of making an optical fiber according to claim 20, wherein said boring step comprises the sub steps of:
inserting boring appliances into said preform at a temperature above the glass softening point; and
pulling out said boring appliances from said preform immediately before or after lowering the temperature of said preform.
22. A method of making an optical fiber which contains a plurality of regions made of sub mediums having refractive indices different from those of main mediums constituting said core and the cladding, comprising steps of:
injecting a medium whose refractive index is changeable on exposure to radiation into given regions of the optical fiber; and
varying the refractive index of said injected medium along the fiber axis by exposing the fiber to radiation.
23. A method of making an optical fiber having a plurality of voids, comprising the step of:
closing the voids by heating and fusing the drawn optical fiber selectively at a plurality of portions spaced apart along the fiber axis.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A printing system comprising an information processing device, a print server and an image forming device, said print server receiving a print job having an original print setting sent from said information processing device and the print job received by said print server being output to said image forming device so that printing process is performed, wherein
said print server includes:
a storage configured to store a printing rule defining an output condition for printing, and a plurality of setting change processes associated within a range matching said printing rules, said plurality of setting change processes including a default setting change process and at least one different setting change process; and
a first processor configured to:
notify said information processing device of said printing rule and said plurality of setting change processes in response to receiving a notification request from said information processing device; and
forcibly change the original print setting of the print job based on a setting change process selected by the user in response to receiving the print job from said information processing device, thereby converting the print job to a print job matching said printing rule, and
said information processing device includes:
a second processor configured to:
acquire said printing rule and information relating to said plurality of setting change processes by sending the notification request to said print server;
display said printing rule and details of said setting change processes based on the information acquired by said second processor;
change said setting change process performed by said first processor from said default setting change process to a different setting change process in response to the user operation to select as the information is being displayed on a display; and
send said different setting change process selected by the user to said print server.
2. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein
said first processor further configured to update said setting change processes applied when said first processor changes the print setting based on said setting change process received from said information processing device.
3. The printing system according to claim 2, wherein
said first processor further configured to change the print setting of the print job based on said setting change process selected in advance as the default among from said multiple setting change processes,
said first processor further configured to send the information relating to said multiple setting change processes to said information processing device for notifying said information processing device of said setting change process, and
said first processor further configured to change said default setting change process applied when said first processor changes the print setting based on said setting change process selected among from said multiple setting change processes, said setting change process being received from said information processing device.
4. The printing system according to claim 2, wherein
said first processor further configured to store in the storage determination information to determine whether or not said setting change process is within the range matching said printing rule, and
said first processor further configured to determine whether or not said setting change process received from said image forming device matches said printing rule based on said determination information, and updates said setting change process applied when said first processor changes the print setting based on said selected setting change process if determining that said setting change process matches said printing rule.
5. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein
said second processor further configured to generate the print job matching said printing rule based on said setting change process changed by said first processor and sending the generated print job to said print server.
6. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein
the first processor is further configured to store a plurality of printing rules, and each of the printing rules is associated with a particular user of a particular group of users.
7. A printing system comprising a print server and an image forming device, a print job being stored in said print server and having an original print setting, said print server outputting the print job to said image forming device in response to a request from said image forming device so that printing process is performed, wherein
said print server includes:
part a first storage for storing the print job;
a second storage for storing a printing rule defining an output condition for printing, and a plurality of setting change processes associated within a range matching said printing rules, said plurality of setting change processes including a default setting change process and at least one different setting change process; and
a first processor configured to:
notify said image forming device of said printing rule and said plurality of setting change processes in response to receiving a notification request from said image forming device; and
forcibly change said original print setting of the print job based on a setting change process selected by the user in response to receiving a request for sending the print job stored in said first storage from said image forming device, thereby converting the print job to a print job matching said printing rule, and
said image forming device includes:
a display; and
a second processor configured to:
acquire said printing rule and information relating to said plurality of setting change processes by sending the notification request to said print server;
display said printing rule and details of said plurality of setting change processes based on the information acquired by said second processor;
change said setting change process performed by said first processor from said default setting change process to a different process in response to the user operation to select as the information is being displayed on said display; and
send said different setting change process selected by the user to said print server.
8. The printing system according to claim 7, wherein
said first processor further configured to update said setting change process applied when said first processor changes the print setting based on said setting change processes received from said image forming device.
9. The printing system according to claim 8, wherein
said first processor further configured to change the print setting of the print job based on said setting change process selected in advance as the default among from said multiple setting change processes,
said first processor further configured to send the information relating to said multiple setting change processes to said image forming device for notifying said image forming device of said setting change process, and
said first processor further configured to change said default setting change process applied when said first processor changes the print setting based on said setting change process selected among from said multiple setting change processes, said setting change process being received from said image forming device.
10. The printing system according to claim 8, wherein
said first processor further configured to store in the second storage determination information to determine whether or not said setting change process is within the range matching said printing rule, and
said first processor further configured to determine whether or not said setting change process received from said image forming device matches said printing rule based on said determination information, and updates said setting change process applied when said first processor changes the print setting based on said selected setting change process if determining that said setting change process matches said printing rule.
11. The printing system according to claim 7, wherein
said second processor further configured to change the print setting of the print job received from said print server based on said setting change process changed by said second processor and producing a printed output.
12. A print server receiving a print job having an original print setting over a network and outputting the print job to an image forming device connected to said network, comprising:
a storage configured to store a printing rule defining an output condition for printing, and a plurality of setting change processes associated within a range matching said printing rules, said plurality of setting change processes including a default setting change process and at least one different setting change process; and
a processor configured to:
notify a sender of a notification request of said printing rule and said plurality of setting change processes in response to receiving said notification request over said network; and
forcibly change said original print setting of the print job based on said setting change process selected by the user at receipt or transmission of the print job, thereby converting the print job to a print job matching said printing rule.
13. The print server according to claim 12, wherein
said processor further configured to update said setting change process applied at conversion of the print setting by said processor when said setting change process performed by said processor is received from the sender of said notification request after said processor sends the notification.
14. The print server according to claim 13, wherein
said processor further configured to change the print setting of the print job based on said setting change process selected in advance as default among from said multiple setting change processes,
said processor further configured to send the information relating to said multiple setting change processes for notifying the sender of said notification request of said setting change process performed by said processor, and
said processor further configured to change said default setting change process applied when said processor changes the print setting based on said setting change process selected among from said multiple setting change processes, said setting change process being received from the sender of said notification request.
15. The print server according to claim 13, wherein
said processor further configured to store therein determination information to determine whether or not said setting change process is within the range matching said printing rule, and
said processor further configured to determine whether or not said setting change process received from the sender of said notification request matches said printing rule based on said determination information, and updates said setting change process applied when said processor changes the print setting based on said selected setting change process if determining that said setting change process matches said printing rule.
16. An information processing device sending a print job having an original print setting to a print server capable of processing the print job based on a printing rule, comprising:
a processor configured to:
acquire from said print server, in response to sending a notification request to said print server, said printing rule and information relating to a plurality of setting change processes including a default setting change process and at least one different setting change process associated within a range matching said printing rules;
display said printing rule and details of said plurality of setting change process performed by said print server are displayed based on the information acquired by said processor;
change said setting change process performed by said print server from said default setting change process to the different setting change process in response to user operation to select as the information is being displayed; and
send said different setting change process selected by the user to said print server.
17. An image forming device requesting for a print job having an original print setting to a print server capable of processing the print job based on a printing rule and performing printing process based on the print job received from said print server, comprising:
a processor configured to:
acquire from said print server, in response to sending a notification request to said print server, said printing rule and information relating to a plurality of setting change process including a default setting change process and at least one different setting change process associated within a range matching said printing rules;
display said printing rule and details of said plurality of setting change processes performed by said print server are displayed based on the information acquired by said processor;
change said setting change process performed by said print server from said default setting change process to the different setting change process in response to a user operation to select as the information is being displayed on said display; and
send said different setting change process selected by the user through said setting changing part to said print server.