Optisches Netzwerk.

摘要

A network in which not only the transmission of control signals and information signals in transmission sections (1, 1a), but also the switching in switching devices (24) and the joining or the separation of the control signals and information signals take place in the optical domain. The control signals (c) and the information signals (d) in the optical domain are distinguishable from each other, and they are both coupled in and out in one and the same optical conductor (1, 1a). For distinguishing the control signal from the information signal the transmission modes (e.g. the wavelength or the polarization mode) thereof can be different. A distinction between the control signal and the information signal can also be effected by opposite directions of transmission; for controlling a switching device a control signal is then transmitted to the switching device via a glass fibre which at the same time serves for the transmission of information signals in an opposite direction.