Integrated Broad-Band Communication Using Optical Networks - Results of an Experimental Study

This paper reports on an experimental system of an integrated communication network built with components representing the state-of-the-art in the area of optical fiber transmission and large-scale integration of logic functions. These components make it possible to apply new concepts for signal processing, transmission, and switching in the experimental system. The large bandwidth of optical channels allows the transmission of all kinds of communication services including data, audio, and video, while semiconductor technology offers low cost realization and mass production of complex signal processing and switching functions to handle all these services within one network. The concept of the system is presented and results on system components and subsystems are given.