Communication system and method for directly transmitting signals between nodes of a communication system

摘要

A communication system has a plurality of nodes adapted to provide for a communication with one or more devices, a central node, a passive optical network having a multiplexer/demultiplexer device adapted to demultiplex a first optical signal from the central node to the plurality of nodes, and to multiplex second optical signals from one or more of the nodes, each node having allocated a wavelength for generating its optical signal, wherein for directly transmitting signals from one node to at least one of the other nodes, the one node is adapted to generate an optical signal at the wavelength allocated to the at least one of the other nodes, the optical signal including the signal to be transmitted, and wherein the multiplexer/demultiplexer device of the passive optical network is adapted to combine the optical signal from the one node with the first optical signal.

主权项

1. A communication system, comprising:
a plurality of nodes adapted to provide for a communication with one or more devices; a central node; a passive optical network comprising a multiplexer/demultiplexer device adapted to demultiplex a first optical signal from the central node to the plurality of nodes, and to multiplex second optical signals from one or more of the nodes, each node having allocated a wavelength for generating its optical signal; wherein for directly transmitting signals from one node to at least one of the other nodes, the one node is adapted to generate a third optical signal at a wavelength allocated to the at least one of the other nodes; and wherein the multiplexer/demultiplexer device of the passive optical network is adapted to combine the third optical signal from the one node with the first optical signal, wherein the multiplexer/demultiplexer device comprises:
a first plurality of input/output (I/O) ports comprising one I/O port adapted to be coupled to the central node and other I/O ports not including the one I/O port;a second plurality of input/output (I/O) ports, wherein individual I/O ports of the second plurality of I/O ports are adapted to be coupled to one of the nodes;wherein the multiplexer/demultiplexer device is adapted to demultiplex the first optical signal sent to the one I/O port from the central node to the nodes via the second plurality of I/O ports and to multiplex the second optical signals sent to the second plurality of I/O ports from the nodes; anda passive optical coupler arranged for coupling the one I/O port to the other I/O ports, the passive optical coupler being adapted to combine the third optical signal sent from the one node with the first optical signal.