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US 4,366,565 AGranted
Local area network optical fiber data communication
OwnerGerald J. Herskowitzinventor
Life of this patent
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OwnerGerald J. Herskowitzinventor
Estimating the term…
A method and apparatus are disclosed for high speed multiaccess data communication using guided wave components and angular division multiplexing for parallel optical signal transmission over a multimode optical fiber. A receiver at each station in the network comprises an optical coupler/demultiplexer, a pulse regenerator, an optical processor and detectors. The transmitter at each station comprises an array of lasers, a switching matrix for controlling emissions into the optical fiber and a multiplexer/coupler for coupling the laser emissions to the multimode optical fiber. The optical processor is directly coupled to the switching matrix. Preferably, the multiplexer/coupler comprises a graded-index planar lens, one major surface of which abuts the optical fiber and the other major surface of which is contacted by a plurality of single mode waveguides from the different lasers of the transmitter. As a result, the single mode signals introduced into the lens at different radial distances are coupled to different modal groups propagating in the optical fiber. The coupler/demultiplexer preferably comprises a graded-index lens and an array of concentric half-ring lasers. Annular cones of radiation propagating in the optical fiber are focused to an array of concentric rings near the half-ring lasers where they are converted into linear beams propagating in single mode guided wave structures.
An optical data communication system comprising a plurality of stations linked together by a multimode optical waveguide to form an optical signal, each of said stations comprising:
An optical multiplexer/coupler for coupling single mode optical signals to a multimode optical waveguide said multiplexer/coupler comprising:
An optical coupler/demultiplexer for demultiplexing multimode optical signals, said coupler demultiplexer comprising:
An optical data communication system comprising a plurality of stations linked together by a step-index multimode optical waveguide, each of said stations comprising:
In an optical data communication system comprising a plurality of stations linked together by a step-index multimode optical waveguide, a method of operating a station of said system comprising the steps of:
An optical data communication system comprising a plurality of stations linked together by a multimode optical waveguide, each of said stations comprising:
An optical multiplexer/coupler for coupling single mode optical signals to a multimode optical waveguide said multiplexer/coupler comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.