Multichannel, multihop lightwave communication system
US4914648A · kind A · utility
Assignees
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 29, 1989 |
| Grant date | Apr 3, 1990 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 29, 2009 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04J14/0282
- WIPO fieldTelecommunications
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The present invention relates to a multichannel multihop lightwave communication network which allows packet concurrency in the network while avoiding the need for agile optical devices. The network comprises a lightwave communication medium (10) for supporting a plurality of independent user nodes; and a plurality of N network interface units (NIUs) (11). Each NIU is connected to the lightwave medium and one or more separate user nodes and comprises a trnasmitter section (28-35) and a receiver section (20-27) which are each fixedly assigned to transmit and receive, respectively, over a single channel or a plurality of separate channels to or from other NIUs of the network. In a connectivity pattern for one embodiment of the network, the NIUs are divided into k groups of p.sup.k NIUs such that each NIU of a first group of p.sup.k NIUs is capable of transmitting over the fixedly assigned single channel, or any or all of the p separate channels, to a preferred one or all of the associated p separate NIUs of a second group, etc. based on a generalization of a perfect shuffle pattern. Such technique permits all NIUs of the network to communicate with all other NIUs either via a single …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.