Abstract

The development of a fiber optic LAN based on wavelength-sampling multiplexing (WSM) techniques has been investigated. WSM techniques, suggested a few years ago for fly-by-light system applications, never achieved practical feasibility because of poor power budgets and their immaturity on a physical (hardware) layer level. Our approach is based on a novel WSM device design and a new generation of non-Lambertian second-window light sources, called ELEDs (edge light emitting diodes), which have excellent power budgets. Our LAN is fully transparent to the type of signal transmitted (voice, data, video). ELED response, channel insertion loss, channel uniformity, and cross-talk characteristics of the WSM device have been measured.

© 1992 Optical Society of America