BROADBAND OPTICAL COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR FAULT TOLERANT FIBER OPTIC NETWORKS, PROVIDING INCREASED PERFORMANCE, THROUGHPUT, AND CAP

DOD OPTICAL COMMUNICATION REQUIREMENTS HAVE MOVED BEYOND THE PERFORMANCE CAPABILITIES OF CONVENTIONAL FIBER OPTIC COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES. CONVENTIONAL OPTICAL COMMUNICATION NETWORKS ARE LIMITED TO BASEBAND COMMUNICATION. HOWEVER, BREAKTHROUGHS IN NEW, BIREFRINGENT CRYSTAL TECHNOLOGY COMBINED WITH THE APPLICATION OF NEW HEURISTIC TECHNIQUES FOR OPTICAL LASER POWER MODULATION MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO PROVIDE TRUE BROADBAND OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS! POLARIZATION INSENSITIVE BIREFRINGENT CRYSTALS CAN MULTIPLEX AND DEMULTIPLEX INDEPENDENT WAVELENGTHS OF LIGHT WITH EXTREMELY NARROW CHANNEL WIDTHS AND CLOSE CHANNEL SPACINGS, ENABLING SIMULTANEOUS COMMUNICATION OF MULTIPLE, INDEPENDENT BANDS OF CONICATION CHANNELS WITHIN THE ZERO DISPERSION SPECTRAL WINDOW OF A SINGLE OPTICAL CONDUCTOR. MULTIPLE COMMUNICATION CHANNELS CAN SUBSEQUENTLY BE MULTIPLEXED AND DEMULTIPLEXED WITHIN EACH COMMUNICATION BAND (WAVELENGTH) USING OPTICAL LASER POWER MODULATION TECHNIQUES, PROVIDING TRULY TIME DOMAIN INDEPENDENT MULTI-CHANNEL OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS. THIS HAS VERY SIGNIFICANT IMPLICATIONS FOR ADDRESSING OPTICAL COMMUNICATION PERFORMANCE LIMITATIONS IN BOTH THE GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE SECTORS. IN PHASE I A METHODOLOGY WILL BE DEVELOPED FOR INTEGRATING FAULT TOLERANT BROADBAND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY INTO EXISTING AND NEXT GENERATION DOD OPTICAL COMMUNICATION NETWORKS, FOR IMPROVING COMMUNICATION THROUGHPUT, CAPACITY, AND RELIABILITY. THIS METHODOLOGY WILL ALSO INCLUDE A TECHNIQUE FOR PROVIDING PHYSICAL LAYER INTERFACE COMPATIBILITY WITH THE FDDI/SAFENET II OPTICAL COMMUNICATION STANDARD. THE FEASIBILITY OF PROVIDING SIMULTANEOUS VOICE, DATA, AND/OR VIDEO OPTICAL COMMUNICATION WITHIN A SINGLE OPTICAL CONDUCTOR WILL BE DEMONSTRATED.