DEVICE FOR OPTICAL COMMUNICATION COMPRISING AN INTEGRATED OPTICAL COMBINING MODULE AND AN OPTICAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM PROVIDED WITH SUCH A DEVICE

摘要

A device for optical communication comprising an integrated optical combining module which comprises connection means (54) for exchanging information signals (59) with several end station connections (55, 56, 57, 58) in a bidirectional manner, receiving means (23) for receiving and passing on one or several broadcast/multicast signals, splitting means (22) for distributing said one or several broadcast/multicast signals over said end station connections, and combining means (50, 51, 52, 53) for combining said information signals and said one or several broadcast/multicast signals for each end station connection. In particular, switching means (60, 61, 62, 63) are provided which are connected to the splitting means (22) downstream thereof for selectively passing on said one or several broadcast/multicast signals under the control of externally supplied control signals (64).