Fibre network having a passive optical coupling element for optoelectronic transmission of data between addressable subscriber stations
First Claim
1. A fibre network for optoelectronic transmission of data, comprising:
- a plurality of subscriber stations;
each station including an optical information transmitter, an optical information receiver and coding facility means for recognizing a specific one of a plurality of address codes;
common addressing means for addressing said subscriber stations by periodically transmitting the address codes of said stations whereby the transmitter of the addressed subscriber station transmits information to the remaining said stations;
a passive optical coupling element, said coupling element comprising a solid light-conducting core having a pair of opposing first and second end faces, said first and second end faces being devoid of an anti-reflective coating;
each transmitter of each of said stations and of said common addressing means optically connected to a first end of a different one of a first group of individual light-conducting fibres, a remaining end of each of said first group of fibres being optically connected to said first end face of said coupling element;
each receiver of each of said stations optically connected to a first end of a different one of a second group of individual light-conducting fibres, a remaining end of each of said said second group of fibres being optically connected to said second end face of said coupling element;
said addressing means being optically coupled to a first end of an individual light conducting fibre, the remaining end of said light conducting fibre being optically coupled to said first end of said coupling element;
said coupling element having a length between said first and second end faces selected to cause an active surface area of all of said fibres coupled to said second end face to be fully illuminated by optical energy emanating from said remaining end of any one of the fibres coupled to said first end of said coupling element, whereby transfer of optical information between any pair of stations is accomplished without transferring the information through said common addressing means.
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Abstract
A fibre network is disclosed for the optoelectronic transmission of data between and among a plurality of subscriber stations, each station having a transmitter and a receiver. A specific address code is allocated to each transmitter and its associated receiver, and the information content of the individual subscriber stations is sampled cyclically by a common addressing unit. The fibre network has n junction points, whereby n≧1, and the individual fibre conductors lead from these junction points to the connected subscriber stations, in which the junction points contain passive coupling elements in the form of a solid, light-conducting core having opposing end faces. The fibres leading from the transmitters and from the addressing unit to a junction point are optically connected to one end face of a coupling element, and the outgoing fibres leading to the receivers are optically connected to the opposite end face of the coupling element. The length of the coupling element is such that the active surface area of the light-transmitting fibres coupled to the coupling element are individually capable of fully illuminating all of the receiver fibres connected to the opposite end face of the coupling element.
In an alternative embodiment, the fibres leading from both transmitters and receivers are optically connected to the same face of the coupling element, whose opposite end face is provided with a reflective (i.e. mirror) surface.
43 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A fibre network for optoelectronic transmission of data, comprising:
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a plurality of subscriber stations; each station including an optical information transmitter, an optical information receiver and coding facility means for recognizing a specific one of a plurality of address codes; common addressing means for addressing said subscriber stations by periodically transmitting the address codes of said stations whereby the transmitter of the addressed subscriber station transmits information to the remaining said stations; a passive optical coupling element, said coupling element comprising a solid light-conducting core having a pair of opposing first and second end faces, said first and second end faces being devoid of an anti-reflective coating; each transmitter of each of said stations and of said common addressing means optically connected to a first end of a different one of a first group of individual light-conducting fibres, a remaining end of each of said first group of fibres being optically connected to said first end face of said coupling element; each receiver of each of said stations optically connected to a first end of a different one of a second group of individual light-conducting fibres, a remaining end of each of said said second group of fibres being optically connected to said second end face of said coupling element; said addressing means being optically coupled to a first end of an individual light conducting fibre, the remaining end of said light conducting fibre being optically coupled to said first end of said coupling element; said coupling element having a length between said first and second end faces selected to cause an active surface area of all of said fibres coupled to said second end face to be fully illuminated by optical energy emanating from said remaining end of any one of the fibres coupled to said first end of said coupling element, whereby transfer of optical information between any pair of stations is accomplished without transferring the information through said common addressing means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A fibre network for optoelectronic transmission of data, said network having N junction points, where N ≧
- 1, comprising;
a plurality of subscriber stations; each station including an optical information transmitter, an optical information receiver, and coding facility means for recognizing a specific one of a plurality of address codes; common addressing means for addressing said subscriber stations by periodically transmitting the address codes of said stations whereby the transmitter of the addressed subscriber station transmits information to the remaining stations; at least one passive optical coupling element, each coupling element defining one of said junction points of said network;
each said coupling element comprising a solid light-conducting core having a pair of opposing first and second end faces, said first end face being devoid of an antireflective coating, said second end face having a substantially completely reflective coating to form a mirror surface thereon;a plurality of individual light-conducting fibres; the first end of each of said plurality of fibres being optically connected to said first end face of said coupling element; a remaining end of each of said fibres being split into first and second end portions, each said first and second end portion being respectively optically connected to the transmitter and the receiver of one of said plurality of stations; each said coupling element having a length between said first and second end faces selected to cause optical energy emanating from the first end of any one of the fibres to fully illuminate all of the remaining fibre first ends, whereby transfer of optical information between any pair of stations is accomplished without transferring the information through said common addressing means. - View Dependent Claims (16)
- 1, comprising;
Specification