Connectivity patterns in WDM star networks

A media access communication approach is presented for a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) star network with slowly tunable transmitters and receivers. The approach is based on precomputed and cyclic wavelength assignments which determine the system connectivity patterns. In each fragment of the connectivity schedule point-to-point collision-free communication is obeyed. The use of preassigned connectivity patterns eliminates the need for arbitration on a per packet basis or the need for data forwarding in a multihop structure, improving the system performance