ARRANGEMENT FOR OPTICAL INFORMATION TRANSMISSION BETWEEN A PLURALITY OF SUBSCRIBERS

摘要

In this arrangement, the data paths are branched via switching elements. To obtain the simplest possible, inexpensive and low-attenuation configuration and to create a possibility for signal regeneration, these switching elements are constructed as hybrid couplers (1, 27, 28, 37) in which in each case an electrical level, at which the data paths are branched for dividing or combining the information items, is formed by in each case one D/E converter (4, 5, 23, 24, 30, 34, 38, 41) at the input end and one E/O converter (6, 7, 25, 26, 29, 35, 39, 40) at the output end. Hybrid couplers (1, 27, 28, 37) of this type, which are bi- directionally constructed with in each case two optical inputs and outputs (E1, E2, A1, A2) and a single connection for the electrical input and output (TE, TA) are particularly well suited for constructing any types of star bus configurations by connecting them together at the electrical level. Using the unidirectional construction of the hybrid couplers, ring bus systems can also be very advantageously produced, in which arrangements multiple passes of the data signals along the data ring can be avoided with little effort and a clock-synchronous transmission is also possible with a central clock supply.