A Multichannel Multihop Local Lightwave Network.

A new local network architecture is presented which appears particularly well suited for lightwave implementation. Because the speed at which light may be electro-optically modulated is limited to a range of several Gigabits/sec., a network wherein all users access a single channel operating at this rate provides an overall network capacity which falls far short of tapping the vast bandwidth potential of lightwave technology. Thus, a fundamental feature to be sought is the ability to provide an aggregate network capacity, to be shared among all users, which is far in excess of the peak rate at which any one user may access a single shared channel network. In such circumstances, the entire band is not instantaneously available to all users, and connectivity among users becomes a concern.