AGGREGATOR-BASED COST-OPTIMIZED COMMUNICATIONS TOPOLOGY FOR A POINT-TO-MULTIPOINT NETWORK

摘要

An optical combiner for a communications network transmitting both upstream signals and a downstream optical signal. The communications network includes an array of amplifiers, each receiving a respective instance of the downstream optical signal. The output of each amplifier is split among a plurality of ports in a first splitter/combiner unit. The first splitter/combiner unit transmits the amplified downstream optical signal to respective second splitter/combiner units.