Abstract

Fiber optic local area networking (FOLAN) is rapidly becoming a reality. It has gone from an engineering curiosity to a commercially available product within the last few years thanks to the emerging standards and general acceptance of fiber optics. FOLANs are ideal for high speed data transport. They eliminate ground loop problems; the media does not require shielding and, in general, requires less space and is lighter weight. Fiber optic media has a much higher bandwidth than equivalent wire systems which will allow for future expansion without requiring a cable plant change. The question of what is presently available and how a typical system is implemented will be answered. There are several FOLANs commercially available or under development at this time. Generically most of them fall in one of these categories: token rings, token buses, and continuous sense multiple access/collision detect (CSMA/CD) networks. Perhaps the most well-known token ring is the fiber distributed data interface (FDDI). One implementation of the token bus is the manufacture automated protocol (MAP). The most popular implementation of CSMA/CD is Ethernet. A brief description of each of the protocols, connection schemes, and available hardware used to implement the networks will be given. The FDDI network will be used to illustrate a typical network realization. The last portion of the presentation will discuss what the future has in store for high speed fiber networks. What are some of the emerging technologies? What is SONET, HPPI, and high-speed channel?

© 1990 Optical Society of America