Technology Aspects Of A Coherent Optical M.A.N.

This paper reports on the UCOL concept which is currently under development as a laboratory prototype under the framework of the European programme ESPRIT; the acronym UCOL stands for Ultra-wideband Coherent Optical L.A.N. The first section sets out the basic rationale on which this project was started and reviews the system architecture. The following sections address the individual building blocks of the network and review the constraints set by multichannel capability on network operation and capacity.