Fiber-optic components for LANs and data communications

Summary form only given. 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 have a much higher bandwidth than equivalent wire systems which allow for future expansion without requiring a cable plant change. The question of what is available and how a typical system is implemented is considered. There are several FOLANs commercially available or under development. Generically most of them fall into one of these categories: token rings, token buses, and continuous sense multiple access/collision detect networks. A brief description of each of the protocols, connection schemes, and available hardware used to implement the networks is given. The FDDI network is used to illustrate a typical network realization. Possible future developments are considered