Optical star repeater
First Claim
1. An optical star repeater for use in an optical star network, comprising:
- a photoelectric transducer for coupling optical signals from a plurality of receiving paths into a coupled optical signal and for converting said coupled optical signal into an electrical signal;
means for regenerating the electrical signal from the photoelectric transducer to produce a regenerated electrical signal;
means for detecting a collision of the optical signals from said plurality of paths from the electrical signal;
signal generator means for generating a fixed signal;
selecting means, responsive to the detecting means, for selecting said fixed signal in response to a collision indication and for selecting the regenerated electrical signal when no collision is detected;
means for converting the selected signal from the selecting means into an output optical signal; and
means for transmitting the output optical signal into a plurality of transmitting paths;
wherein said photoelectric transducer comprises an optical coupler for coupling together said optical signals from said plurality of receiving paths to provide said coupled optical signal, and an optical receiver for receiving said coupled optical signal,wherein said optical signals comprise optical code pulse signals and said coupled optical signal comprises coupled optical code pulse signals, and said optical receiver comprises a photodetector connected to the optical coupler to receive the coupled optical code pulse signals and an amplifier connected to said photodetector and operable to generate said electrical signal, andwherein said electrical signal comprises a series of pulses corresponding to the received coupled optical code pulse signals, said detecting means being operable to detect leading and trailing edges of said pulses for generating a data collision indication responsive to the detection of a plurality of consecutive leading or trailing edges.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An optical star network for an optical repeater which requires a reduced number of optical receivers.
A star repeater receives optical signals transmitted from various communications terminals and checks for data collisions based on output signals of an optical detector. The star repeater is therefore operable to simultaneously receive numerous optical signals using a single receiver. Upon detection of a data collision, the star repeater generates a jam signal. Each communications station monitors the jam signal to provide communication control. Data collisions are detected based on the fact that the leading and trailing edges of optical pluse signals are detected alternately only when no data collisions occur.
28 Citations
11 Claims
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1. An optical star repeater for use in an optical star network, comprising:
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a photoelectric transducer for coupling optical signals from a plurality of receiving paths into a coupled optical signal and for converting said coupled optical signal into an electrical signal; means for regenerating the electrical signal from the photoelectric transducer to produce a regenerated electrical signal; means for detecting a collision of the optical signals from said plurality of paths from the electrical signal; signal generator means for generating a fixed signal; selecting means, responsive to the detecting means, for selecting said fixed signal in response to a collision indication and for selecting the regenerated electrical signal when no collision is detected; means for converting the selected signal from the selecting means into an output optical signal; and means for transmitting the output optical signal into a plurality of transmitting paths; wherein said photoelectric transducer comprises an optical coupler for coupling together said optical signals from said plurality of receiving paths to provide said coupled optical signal, and an optical receiver for receiving said coupled optical signal, wherein said optical signals comprise optical code pulse signals and said coupled optical signal comprises coupled optical code pulse signals, and said optical receiver comprises a photodetector connected to the optical coupler to receive the coupled optical code pulse signals and an amplifier connected to said photodetector and operable to generate said electrical signal, and wherein said electrical signal comprises a series of pulses corresponding to the received coupled optical code pulse signals, said detecting means being operable to detect leading and trailing edges of said pulses for generating a data collision indication responsive to the detection of a plurality of consecutive leading or trailing edges. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An optical star repeater for use in an optical star network, comprising:
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a photoelectric transducer for coupling optical signals from a plurality of receiving paths into a coupled optical signal and for converting said coupled optical signal into an electrical signal; means for regenerating the electrical signal from the photoelectric transducer to produce a regenerated electrical signal; means for detecting a collision of the optical signals from said plurality of paths from the electrical signal; signal generator means for generating a fixed signal; selecting means, responsive to the detecting means, for selecting said fixed signal in response to a collision indication and for selecting the regenerated electrical signal when no collision is detected; means for converting the selected signal from the selecting means into an output optical signal; and means for transmitting the output optical signal into a plurality of transmitting paths; wherein said photoelectric transducer comprises an optical coupler for coupling together said optical signals from said plurality of receiving paths to provide said coupled optical signal, and an optical receiver for receiving said coupled optical signal; wherein said optical signals comprise optical code pulse signals and said coupled optical signal comprises coupled optical code pulse signals, and said optical receiver comprises a photodetector connected to the optical coupler to receive the coupled optical code pulse signals, and an amplifier connected to said photodetector and operable to generate said electrical signal, and wherein said electrical signal comprises a series of pulses corresponding to the received coupled optical code pulse signals and said detecting means comprises a differentiator responsive to said electrical signal to produce a bipolar signal, a decision circuit operable to receive said bipolar signal and to discriminate between positive and negative pulses thereof, and a logic circuit responsive to an output from said decision circuit to provide a data collision indication whenever a plurality of consecutive positive or negative pulses are detected. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
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8. A method for transmitting a plurality of received optical code pulse signals in an optical star network having an optical star repeater comprising the steps of:
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coupling together said plurality of received optical code pulse signals to provide coupled optical signals; detecting said coupled optical signals to provide detected optical signals; converting said detected optical signals into electrical signals comprising a series of pulses corresponding to the received optical code pulse signals; detecting collisions of said plurality of received optical code pulse signals by differentiating said electrical signals to produce bipolar signals, detecting said bipolar signals, and discriminating between positive and negative portions of said bipolar signals, and producing a collision indication signal whenever a plurality of consecutive positive or negative portions are detected; generating a fixed signal; selecting, in response to said collision indication signal, said fixed signal, and, in response to a no collision indication signal, said electrical signal; converting the selected signal into an output optical signal; and transmitting the output optical signal to a plurality of optical receivers. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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Specification