MXPA01000531A - Optical communication system that transmits and receives data through free space - Google Patents

Abstract

A system and method for networked high-speed data communication through free space is described. The system includes one or more central networks, which contain one or more lasers modulated with high-speed data to illuminate with laser light areas surrounding the central network in which are located one or more user networks. The laser from the central network generates a radiation pattern that is sectored into horizontal and vertical sectors, and further divided into channels for each wavelength. Data coming from the user networks modulates a laser, which is transmitted as a collimated beam through free space back to the central network where it is received. Communication can be point-to-point, point-to-multipoint, multipoint-to-point, or multipoint-to-multipoint, and the point-to-multipoint communication can be broadcast, simulcast, or multicast.

Description

OPTICAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM THAT TRANSMITS AND RECEIVES DATA THROUGH FREE SPACE TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates in general to data communication systems and in particular to optical data communications networks in free space. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Existing telecommunications systems can be useful for providing traditional telecommunications services, but in general they are confined to low capacity applications, with relatively low speed. For example, standard telephone lines are limited to data rates of approximately 60 kilobits per second (Kbps) per telephone line, integrated services digital network service (ISDN = Well-Known Integrated Services Digital Network) provide data speeds of up to 128 Kbps and asymmetric digital subscriber line services (ADSL) = Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) are limited to data rates of 8 megabits per second (Mbps). Similarly, conventional satellite networks can provide data to end users up to 30 Mbps per satellite, and local multiple point distribution services (LMDS = Multiple Local Points Distribution Services) seem to have an upper limit of approximately 4 to 8 gigabits per second. (Gbps) per cell of two kilometers. These data rates, especially when divided among multiple users, soon prove to be insufficient for many modern applications such as video teleconferencing and multimedia applications. Because a typical personal computer can transmit and receive data over Ethernet at data rates exceeding 100 Mbps, individuals and businesses alike can find attractive telecommunications services that allow those data speeds. For example, many customers may want high-speed data communication for use with the Internet and The World Wide Web, high resolution video teleconferencing, video telephony, large multi-gigabyte file transfers, etc. This means that for telecommunications service providers to succeed in the current competitive global environment, any future telecommunications system must meet these demands without unreasonable costs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure IA is a block diagram of a communication system suitable to implement a modality.

Figure IB is an isometric view showing one side of the communication system of Figure IA. Figure 2 is a block diagram of illustrative core network components for downlink transmission, using the communication system of Figure IB. Figure 2A is an illustrative flow diagram of a controller transmission function of an illustrative core system. Figure 3 is an illustrative block diagram of components for user network downlink reception. Figure 3A is an illustrative flow diagram of a transmission function by user system controller. Figure 3B is an illustrative flow chart of a reception function of the user system controller. Figure 4 is an illustrative block diagram of central downlink signal processor components. Figure 5 is an illustrative block diagram of user downlink signal processor components. Figure 6 is an illustrative flow diagram of an illustrative downlink data transmission and reception process. Figure 7 is an illustrative block diagram of user network uplink transmission components. Figure 8 is an illustrative block diagram of central network uplink reception components. Figure 9 is an illustrative block diagram of uplink signal processor components of user. Figure 10 is an illustrative block diagram of central network uplink components. Figure 11 is a flow diagram of an uplink data transmission and reception process. Figure 12 illustrates a data packet suitable for use with the communication system of Figure IA. Figure 13 illustrates an illustrative transmission point with sectorization. Figure 14 illustrates examples of various convenient radiation patterns, generated by central transmission antennas in the illustrative core network components of Figure 2.

Figure 15 shows an illustrative topography that is produced by the sectorization of Figure 13. Figure 16 is an illustrative flow diagram illustrating a stereophonic broadcast process with two stations. Figure 17 shows an illustrative central input / output interface. Figure 18 is a block diagram showing an alternative embodiment of the communication system of Figures IA and IB. In the Figures, similar reference numbers refer to similar elements. In addition, the most significant digit in a reference number, refers to a Figure in which that element was first introduced (for example, a 2.04 element was first introduced in the Figure 2) . DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED MODALITIES A communication system and in particular a system and method for optical communications in free space, is described herein. In the following description, numerous specific details such as symbols and specific relationships, specific methods and structures for transmitting, receiving and processing high-speed data, etc., are established to provide an integral understanding of embodiments of the invention. A person skilled in the relevant art will nevertheless readily recognize that the invention can be practiced without one or more of the specific details or with other methods and structures, etc. In other cases, well-known structures or operations are not illustrated in detail to avoid blocking the description of the modalities. Modes of the invention are directed to interconnected methods and devices systems for communication of > bi-directional, high-speed, network, through free space data, which has one or more centrally located transmit / receive stations, using one or more lasers modulated with high-speed encrypted data (10 Mbps-10 Gbps ) and control signals to illuminate with laser light some or all of the areas surrounding the centrally located transmit / receive stations. The illuminated areas surrounding the centrally located transmit / receive stations encompass one or more user optical receivers that have light filtering and picking elements, active tracking devices, optical detectors and demodruption and decoding circuits, which receive and select portions of the laser high-speed data stream at the centrally located transmit / receive stations to send output to an optical user transceiver interface output, which in turn can be connected via a high-speed network connection to equipment of user. Data that comes from user equipment in a 100 Mbps megabit Ethernet, switches to the user's optical transceiver interface power and modulates a laser co-located on the user's optical transceiver. The user's optical transceiver sends a collimated laser beam through the free space back to the centrally located transmit / receive stations, where the collimated laser beam is received by light collection and filtering elements and active array and detector detectors. active tracking, where data is detected and directed in data routing circuits. The data routing circuits direct the data to node addresses, which may already be within a centrally located transmission / reception station area or within other centrally located transmission / reception station areas, via network links-a - Free space optical main structure network with high speed or elsewhere in other networks connected to the address circuits of the centrally located transmission or reception stations.

The addressing circuits of the centrally located transmit / receive stations also direct input data sent to any or all of the user's optical transceivers or encode that data in the high-speed laser data stream of the transmitting station. / reception centrally located in particular, which is detected by the respective optical user transmitter. The laser beams illuminate the area surrounding the transmitting / receiving stations centrally located in a variety of radiation patterns. The radiation patterns are sectorized horizontally (or radially) and / or vertically (or by elevation). The sectors can be further subdivided into several wavelength channels. The networks transmit and receive data using the channels. Of course, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention is not limited to this modality. On the contrary, the invention supports a variety of modalities, some of which are more fully described below. The Communication System Figure IA is a block diagram of a communication system 100 suitable for implementing a modality. The communication system 100 can be considered as a hierarchical system with a set of interconnected networks, where each network is a node in the communications system 100, and where each network is interconnected. For example, communications system 100 may include as one node one or more core networks 102, user networks 104 and / or peripheral networks 105. Data is exchanged between networks. In one embodiment of the invention, data is sent from central networks 102 to user networks 104 using coherent, shaped and divergent light beams (or light cones) 106, and data is sent from user networks 104 to central networks 102, using collimated light beams 108. Each individual network may also include a hierarchy of inter-related sub-systems with lower-level nodes (or network elements) that are described more fully below. Data is exchanged between point-to-point, point-to-multiple point, multiple point-to-point, or multiple point-to-multiple point networks, and point-to-multiple point communication can be broadcast, Stereophonic broadcast with two stations or Simultaneous transmission. For example, during point-to-point communication, any of the core networks 102 or their lower level nodes may transmit data therefrom to any node in the user networks 104 or the peripheral networks 105. Likewise, any of the core networks 102 or their lower level nodes can receive data from any of the user networks 104 or their lower level nodes, as well as from any of the peripheral networks 105 or their lower level nodes. During point-to-multipoint communication, any of the core networks 102 or their lower level nodes may transmit data from themselves to several user networks 104 or their lower level nodes substantially simultaneously. Any of the core networks 102 or their lower level nodes can transmit data from themselves to several peripheral networks 105 or their lower level nodes, substantially simultaneously. Likewise, any of the core networks 102 or their lower level nodes can receive data from any of the user networks 104 or their lower level nodes substantially simultaneously, as well as from any of the peripheral networks 105 or their nodes of lower level substantially simultaneously. The hierarchy of the communication system 100 can characterize interconnected networks as illustrated in Figure IA. The mode does not require peripheral networks 105 and user networks. 104 are interconnected, or central networks 102 are connected to both peripheral networks 105 and user networks 104. Furthermore, central networks 102 can interconnect with each other in such a way that data is transmitted between individual central networks 102, without passing through a peripheral network 105 or a user network 104. This particular mode reduces operating costs, for example by allowing core networks to transport their own mainframe or backbone traffic, unlike other wireless networks that devote all its bandwidth to user networks. In one embodiment of the invention, a user network 104 is operated by a user subscribing with peripheral networks 105 and / or central networks 102, to send and receive data from a client-server environment. Users can be located in a manufacturing facility, a multinational corporation, a financial institution or a university, for example with buildings that house the components of the network. In this case, the core networks 102, the user networks 104 and the peripheral networks 105 connect "client" systems with "server" systems, in such a way that the server system can perform a calculation, retrieve a file or search for a database for a particular entry in response to a request by the client system. A particular type of client / server environment is not essential to the modality. It will be apparent to those with skill in the specialty that the modalities can be implemented in other client-server environments, such as systems for airline flight reservations, mail-order facilities, etc. Peripheral networks 105 can be any interconnected network operated by a common carrier, including a public switched telephone network (PSTN), a local exchange network (LEC = Local Exchange Carrier) that provides telecommunications services. local, an exchange between exchanges (IXC = Inter Exchange Carrier) that provides long-distance telecommunications services, a satellite network, a value-added network (for example, that provides quotation services in the stock market with marking, mail services electronic, etc.). Alternatively, the peripheral networks 105 may be a collection of networks that functions as a virtual network, including the Internet, the World Wide Web, etc. Peripheral networks 105 may also include data communications networks such as local area networks (LANs = Local rea Networks), metropolitan area networks (MANs = Metropolitan Area Networks), or wide area networks (WANs = Wide Area Networks) . Of course, those skilled in the art will appreciate that a particular type of peripheral network 105 is not required by the modality. On the contrary, any type of peripheral network 105 can be used. In one embodiment, the core networks 102, the user networks 104 and the peripheral networks 105 use synchronous optical network technology (SONET = Synchronous Optical Network), which is an optical interface standard that allows inter-network formation of transmission products from multiple distributors. That is, when the communications system 100 implements SONET technology, the interconnection of the networks allows data communication throughout the world. Even more, when the communications system 100 implements SONET technology, a new ideally suited digital hierarchy is achieved to handle fiber-based signals and at the same time allow for easy extraction of lower speed signals. These include unified operations and maintenance and the flexibility to allow future service offers. In an alternate embodiment, the core networks 102, the user networks 104 and the peripheral networks 105 use gigabit Ethernet technology, which is an optical interface standard that allows inter-network formation of transmission product from multiple distributors. That is, when the communication system 100 implements gigabit Ethernet technology, the interconnection of the networks allows worldwide data communication, especially real-time voice and video and sophisticated and discerning type server support. Even more, when the communication system 100 implements gigabit Ethernet technology, a new ideally suited digital hierarchy is achieved to handle fiber-based signals and at the same time allow easy extraction of lower speed signals. These include unified operations and maintenance and the flexibility to allow offers of future services. Figure IB is an isometric view showing one side of the communications system 100, where data is exchanged between the central networks 102 and the user networks 104 in free space, using the light cones 106a-c and the collimated light beams 108a-c. In one embodiment, the light cones 106a-c are coherent shaped and divergent light beams, such as light amplification of radiation stimulated emission or "laser" beams. The laser beams are directional and can operate in a range of wavelengths in the "light" region of the electromagnetic spectrum, including visible light, near-infrared light and infrared light. When light cones 106a-c are laser beams, light cones 106a-c allow high bit rate, high power, high coupling efficiency, direct high frequency modulation and powerful operations. In one embodiment, light cones 106a-c are class 1 laser beams, safe for the eyes, in accordance with the standards of the American National Standards Institute (ANSÍ = American National Standards Institute). In alternate embodiments, light cones 106a-c operate in accordance with other ANSI standards. The use of particular wavelengths of laser light provides high bandwidth with very little attenuation (or loss of power) in the atmosphere. Furthermore, when using laser light, interconnection with SONET architectures that operate at high speeds between central networks 102 typical of equipment for transmitting inventory data currently available is permitted. Furthermore, in this mode, using the SONET protocol allows allocation of arbitary bandwidth in the well-known portions of capacity C-1. That is, when the communications system 100 uses the laser lights with SONET, can allow a digital transmission link with the capacity of 1,544 Mbps for very different users over remote distances. One embodiment of the communication system 100 uses an infrared laser with a wavelength of approximately 1550 nm. Of course, those skilled in the art will appreciate that a particular wavelength in the light region of the electromagnetic spectrum is not required by the modality. On the contrary, any wavelength in the region of light can be used. The light cones 106a-c and the collimated light beams 108a-c can be generated using any well-known holographic optical elements that properly shape, filter and diverge or collimate the light. For example, beam shaping can be achieved using diffraction gratings, lenses, holographic optical elements or other optical component for standard beam shaping. Wavelength filtering, used in various routing schemes, can also be achieved by employing a variety of standard optical components, such as interference filters, diffraction gratings or prisms. As described more fully below, the bit rate of the light cones 106a-c in a mode may be between 10 Mbps and 10 Gbps, inclusive. Of course, those with skill in the relevant specialty will appreciate that a particular data rate is not required for the modality. That is, the embodiments of the invention support any number of data rates. As in the case with the light cones 106a-c, the collimated light beams 106a-c can also be laser beams or any of light at a wavelength in the "light" region of the electromagnetic spectrum, including visible light, Near infrared light and infrared light. Collimation can be achieved in a well known manner such as by using diffraction gratings, lenses or other optical components for beam shaping, standard. Of course those skilled in the art will appreciate that, while much of the communications within the communications system 100 involving the wireless exchange of digital broadcast data with extremely high speed, the communications network 100 also supports conventional methods of communication. data communications such as telephone lines.

For example, a central network 102 can transmit Internet video data at an extremely high speed to a user network 104, using a light cone 106a with the return communication from the user network 104 to the core network 102 which is through a standard telephone line. This may be the case when the Internet data is graphics and text and the user data is credit card information, for example. This can also be the case when the Internet data is graphics and text and the user data is user authorization information, for example. Still further, those skilled in the art will appreciate that while the communications system 100 may involve the wireless exchange of digital broadcast data with extremely high speed, the communication system 100 may use other data rates. That is, the communication system 100 can communicate at data rates proportional to the type of service being provided, the quality of service requested, the type of information transmitted and / or received, etc. Downlink transmission and reception structure.

Figure 2 is a block diagram of components for downlink transmission for the illustrative core network 102. In this embodiment, the peripheral networks 105 send data for transmission to the user networks 104 by a central router / switch. 204, a central downlink signal processor 206 and a central transmission antenna 208. A central system controller 210 controls the operation of the central router / switch 204, and the central downlink signal processor 206. In general, the data travel over the thick interconnection lines, while other commands, control signals, etc., travel over the thin interconnection lines. Data and other commands, control signals, etc., can also travel on thin and thick interconnection lines, respectively. For purposes of explanation, only one central network 102 is described with respect to certain aspects of the embodiment of Figure 2. It will be understood that the modality contemplates one or more central networks 102. The central router / switch 204 connects the core network 102 to peripheral networks 105 and user networks 104, allowing data to be exchanged between them. The router / central switch 204 can interconnect network interface controllers (NICs = Network Interface Controller), disk controllers, graphic display adapters, etc., to the core network 102. For example, the central router / switch 204 supports NICs implemented in a G-NIC network interface card available from Packets Engines of Spokane, Washington, adapted from 830 nm to 1550 nm. Other exemplary implementations of router / central switch 204 include well-known 10/100 Mbps Ethernet NICs, with 64-bit peripheral component interconnect pipelines (PCI = Perifherial Component Interconnect), which supports either Windows NTMR or the Unix ™ digital operating system. . When the peripheral network 105 is Internet, the central router / switch 204 can support Internet presence points (POPs = Point Of Presence). The central router / switch 204 in one embodiment is a main optical fiber structure that interconnects lower level network elements in the peripheral networks 105 or the core networks 102. In this embodiment, and wherein the communication system 100 is a network switched in packets, the central router / switch 204 is the primary route for data packets.

Packet switched networks are described more fully below. The central router / switch 204 also interconnects the components that transmit the light cones 106 and receive the collimated light beams 108. The central router / switch 204 manages the data routing through the communications system 100. For example, the router / central switch 204 divides core network 102 into software oriented sub-networks, allowing data traffic to be more efficiently directed. The central router / switch 204 also performs load balancing, separation and statistical analysis in data traffic. The central router / switch 204 also determines addressing priorities, and performs troubleshooting tasks. The central router / switch 204 also selects the routes that will take the data from the light beam 108 or data to the light cone 106 in the communication system 100. The central router / switch 204 can dynamically direct data based on the quality of the data. required service or the amount of data traffic in the core network 102.

In one embodiment, the central router / switch 204 implements a link state addressing algorithm that calculates routes based on the number of routers, baud rate, delays, and route costs. This mode can be implemented using a "open shortest path first" protocol (OSPF = Open Shortest Pad First) that runs on a Powerail 5200 gigabit Ethernet addressing switch available from Packet Engines. The central router / switch 204 also includes several waiting lists that hold data waiting to be addressed. The central downlink signal processor 206 receives the data to be sent to the user networks 104 from the central router / switch 204 and encodes, modulates, encrypts, stores in buffer and amplifies the data to produce a carrier whose frequency is in the visible or near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. A carrier with this high frequency is sometimes referred to here as an "optical signal", an "optical carrier", a "carrier" a "carrier signal", a "light wave signal", a "light cone" or a "beam of light". The central downlink signal processor 206 also configures or shapes the carrier signal for transmission by the central transmission antenna 208. > The structure and operation of the central downlink signal processor 206 are described in greater detail below with reference to Figure 4, including the waiting list, of data waiting to be processed. The antenna for central transmission 208 transmits the carrier in the free space. For explanation purposes, only a central transmission antenna 208 is described with respect to the illustrated embodiment of the invention. It will be understood that the modality may contemplate one or more central transmission antennas per local core network and one or more central networks per geographical location. According to one embodiment, the central transmission antenna 208 transmits the carrier in the free space using geometric optical components such as refractive, reflection, diffraction or holographic optical components. Geometric optical components for image formation (IGOs = Imaging Geometric Optics) has the ability to make an image of an object. The image can already be a "real image" or a "virtual image". A real image is one that is emptied on a screen, for example. A virtual image is seen through an eyepiece. To achieve this task, an IGO has two properties: (1) parallel light rays that pass through the optical components, focus on a single point "the focus"; and (2) incident light rays from different angles focus on different foci, all of which are in one plane (the "focal plane"). A telescope, camera lens, shadow projector, magnification lenses and contact lenses are examples of geometric optical imaging components. Geometric optical components that are not imaging (NGOs), do not satisfy at least one of the criteria necessary for an IGO. If you try to observe an image created by NGOs, the image will be "blurred" or nonexistent. Examples of NGOs are the Fresnel lenses used in the front of the front lamps of motor vehicles or "privacy" glass with rough texture used in certain windows where privacy is required. A diffraction grating is an example of a suitable NGO to implement an embodiment of the invention. Of course, any diffraction grating suitable for focusing the desired wavelength that the light cone 106 can focus on at a sufficiently small point may be employed. In this embodiment, a diameter of the light cone 106 is 60 microns. Those with skill in the art will appreciate that the particular diameter depends on the desired data rate. Although the IGOs are adequate, they are expensive and the modality does not require all of their capabilities. In this way, one modality uses NGOs to maximize the utility of the system, while minimizing the cost of the optical transmission and reception components. A geometric optical component that is not a convenient imager operating in the 1550 nm range is available from Richardson Labs in Meridian, Idaho. The central system controller 210 controls the operation of the central switch / router 204, and the central downlink signal processor 206. The central system controller 210 may be implemented in hardware, software or a combination of both hardware and support logical. In aspects that are implemented using software, the software may be stored in a computer program product (such as an optical disk, a magnetic disk, a floppy disk, etc.) or a program storage device (such as a computer). optical disc drive, a magnetic disk drive, a floppy disk drive, etc.). The central system controller 210 may also be custom software program that runs on a group of computers (or processors). Figure 2A illustrates a flow chart of a central system controller 210, which transmits the appropriate function 200 to implement the custom software running on a group of computers. The operation of the transmission function 200 begins with the step, 211, wherein the control immediately passes to the step 212. In the step 212, the transmission function 200 determines which of its data waiting lists it advances next to send data to the central downlink signal processor 206. In step 214, the transmission function 200 synchronizes the coding and bending schemes. In one embodiment, a user system controller 310 (see, for example, Figure 3) synchronizes the coding and beaming schemes with the user networks 104. That is, the central system controller 210 performs a handshaking with the user networks 104 to initiate a data transfer. In step 216, the transmission function 200 determines the particular coding required. Typically, the user networks 104 control the encryption scheme, while the core networks 102 control the bending and encoding schemes. Thus, in one embodiment, the central controller 210 determines the particular coding required. In step 218, the transmission function 200 decides when a data packet is to be transmitted. In one embodiment, the central system controller 310 makes this decision. The operation of the transmission function 200 is completed following step 218 as indicated by step 220. The output of the core networks 102 in the downlink are the light cones 106 which are transmitted to the free space and received by the areas of user 104. That is, each of the core networks 102 transmits data modulated in a coherent and divergent beam of coherent or other light through the free space. Figure 3 is an illustrative block diagram of the network of the downlink receiving components of the user network 104. A user antenna 302 receives data transmitted from the central network 102, processes it using a link signal processor user descending 304 and sends the data to user equipment and devices 308, the user system controller 310 and / or any of the peripheral networks 105. For purposes of explanation, only a user network 104 can be described with respect to certain aspects of the embodiment shown in Figure 3. It will be understood that embodiments of the invention contemplate one or more user networks 104. As mentioned above, the user antenna 302 receives the light cones 106 from the free space.

The user antenna 302 receives the light cones 106 using an optical reception antenna, which in one embodiment uses holographic optical elements. One mode uses well-known telescopes to receive the light cones 106. For example, the user antenna 302 can be a reflecting telescope with a modified eyepiece, to further confine the spot size of the received light. The user antenna 302 outputs the received light cones 106 to the user downlink signal processor 304. The user downlink signal processor 304 receives the light cone 106 and decodes, demodulates, decrypts and stores in buffer to separate the carrier data. The structure and operation of the user downlink signal processor 304 are described in more detail below with reference to Figure 5.

The user input / output interface 306 interconnects the user equipment 308, the user system controller 310 and the peripheral networks 105. It should be remembered that in one embodiment, the user network 104 is operated by a subscribing user to send and receive data in a client-server environment, such as the core networks 102, the user networks 104 and the peripheral networks 105 connect "client" systems with "server" systems. The user input / output interface 306 interconnects the client systems with the server systems using appropriate signaling and protocols. In one aspect, the user input / output interface 306 supports well-known full-duplex operation and flow control common to client-server environments. In another aspect, the user power / output interface 306 supports the signaling network management protocol (SNMP), which is a well-known method by which network management applications interrogate an agent administration using a management information base (MIB = Management Information Base) supported. This mode manages virtually any type of network, to include control protocol devices without transmission (Non-TCP) such as IEEE 802.1 Ethernet bridges.

The user input / output interface 306 supports bidirectional encryption, with the ability to change keys as required. The user input / output interface 306 also implements certification or "challenge" and "response" certification when the keys are established. In this mode, the user input / output interface 306 has a unique serial number, even if it does not have a unique network address, this serial number can be used for encryption and other security features. Control microprograms that keep their contents without electrical power, in the entry / exit interface of subscriber 306 is also protected against unauthorized experimentation (hacking). The equipment and user devices 308 may be any of a variety of well-known equipment such as access doors, local area networks, bridges, etc. The equipment and user devices 308 may also be any of a number of well-known user devices such as printers, hard disk drives, graphic display adapters, televisions.

(TVs), TV set-top boxes, telecommunications equipment, video conferencing equipment and audio / visual equipment, such as home theater electronic components, etc. The operation and structure of the user system controller 310 are similar to the operation and structures of the central system controller 210, since the user system controller 310 controls the operation of the user downlink signal processor 304 and the interface user input / output 306. The user system controller 310 can likewise be implemented in hardware, software or a combination of both hardware and software. In embodiments that are implemented using software, the software may be stored in a computer program product (such as an optical disk, a magnetic disk, a floppy disk, etc.) or a program storage device (such as a optical disc drive, a magnetic disk drive, a floppy disk drive, etc.). The user system controller 310 may also be custom software, which runs on a group of computers (or processors). In one embodiment, the user system controller 310 is implemented in a multipoint system with signal ring time division (TDM = Time Division Multiplex). Figure 3A illustrates a flow chart of a data transmission routine 300 suitable for use with the user system controller 310 in this mode. The transmission routine 300 begins with step 311, where the control immediately passes to step 312, wherein the transmission routine 300 determines the type, amount and speed of data to be transmitted. In step 314, the transmission routine 300 communicates the information gathered in step 312 to the central system controller 210. In step 316, the transmission routine 300 transmits data over the lifetime of the signal. In step 317, the transmission routine 300 determines if there is no more data, and in step 318 a token is returned to the central system controller 210. If in step 318 no more data returns a signal to the system controller 210, the transmission routine 300 returns to step 312. In step 320, if there is more data, the transmission routine 300 is awaited by the next signal from the central system controller 210, and then the transmission routine 300 returns to step 312. Figure 3B is a reception routine 350 that the user system controller 310 implements in the TDM signal ring system mode. For example, in step 352, the reception routine 350 receives a data packet and demodulates it. In step 354, the reception routine 350 examines the data packet head, and determines whether the data packet address corresponds to a user system address. In step 356, the reception routine 350 determines whether the address of the data packet corresponds to the address of the user system. If the address is a correspondence, then the control of the reception routine goes to step 358, where the reception routine 350 decrypts the data packet. In the stage 360, the reception routine 350 sends the data packet to the user sub-network. If on the other hand, in step 356 it is determined that the data packet address does not correspond to a user system address, the operation of the reception routine 350 goes to step 362, wherein the reception routine 350 is empty the data package. Figure 4 is an illustrative block diagram of processor components of? central downlink signal 206. The exemplary central downlink signal processor 206 includes encoders 402, modulators 404, multiplexers 406 and power amplifiers 408, which convert data into a carrier and amplify the carrier for transmission in free space to user networks 104. The encoders 402 convert data into a representation of the data in accordance with a set of rules or conventions that specify the way in which the signals representing the data can be formed, transmitted, received and processed. In one aspect, the encoders 402 encode control signals and data in a high-speed data stream. Illustrative encoders 402 are implemented in a chip or medium access controller (MAC = Media Access Controller) chip in Packet Engines G-NIC. Of course, encoders 402 can be implemented on any card Ethernet, switch or repeater, with the same coding capabilities. The modulators 404 modulate the light cone 106 according to the data to be transmitted in that light cone 106. There are several types of well-known modulation schemes used for communications (eg, frequency modulation, phase modulation, modulation with encryption). and phase shift, amplitude modulation and quadrature etc., (any of which are suitable for implementing communication in the communication system 100. In one embodiment, the 404 modulators are implemented in well-known Ethernet peripheral component interface cards ( PCI = Peripheral Component Interface) whose input and output are fiber optic In this mode, modulators 404 use an amplitude modulation scheme with well-known on-off encryption (OOK = On-Off Keying). amplitude modulation OOK is the lowest cost modulation scheme currently available.Of course, modulators 404 can implement is on any Ethernet card, switch or repeater with the same modulation capabilities. One mode uses the serialization / de-serialization flake (chip) in G-NIC of Packet engines to implement the demodulation task, as well as to direct the laser. The multiplexers 406 in one aspect are multiplexers with wavelength division (WDMs = Wavelenght Division Multiplexers) that establish optical channels by combining the wavelengths (or colors) in the light cone 106. That is, the multiplexers 406 mix several channels at wavelength differences and send out the wavelengths in the same light beam. In this regard, the multiplexers 406 may be the well-known passive combiners or selective combiners. In another aspect, multiplexers 406 are multiplexers with optical time division (OTM = Optical Time Division Multiplexors), or multiplexers with division of wavelength of high density (HDWDM = High Density Wavelength Division Multiplexers). Alternatively, multiplexers 406 may be implemented using coherent multiple channel homodyne or heterodyne detection techniques. In fact, any type of optical combiner that can perform the function of combining the channels, such as fused filter couplers or soliton multiplexers, can also be used to implement the multiplexers 406. Of course, the invention is not limited to the particular type of multipleizing . For example, the channels can be combined in light cone 106 using frequency transformation methods, polarization, spatial position, polarity, space and algebraic, etc. One mode of the 406 multiplexers uses a dense wavelength division multiplexer (DWDM = Dense Wavelenght Multiplexer Division) to select channels in the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standards for the range of 1539 nm- 1570 nm (a separation of approximately 0.8 nm between channels). Power amplifiers 408 can receive and amplify an o. more wavelengths that will be present in the light cone 106. The 408 power amplifiers tolerate optical signals of many formats (or modulation schemes, such as encryption with amplitude displacement or polarity offset encryption) or bit rate ( up to many Gbps), for example 408 power amplifiers are transparent. In one embodiment of the invention, a geographic location contains three central network stations. The signals of each of these central network stations are divided into 36 sectors. Each sector is capable of transporting up to 8 channels at 100 Mbps at 10 Gbps each, with a total local geographic capacity of up to 8,650 terabits per second (Tbps) (for example, three stations for 36 sectors for eight channels per 10 Gbps).

In one embodiment, the power amplifiers are amplifiers of erbium-adulterated optical fibers (EDFA = Erbium Dopet Fiber optic Amplifiers), which amplify one or more wavelengths simultaneously, available from JDS Fitel Corporation in Nepean, Ontario, Canada Figure 5 is an illustrative block diagram of user downlink signal processor 304. The user downlink signal processor mode 304 includes light cone detectors 502, user demodulator 504, user demultiplexers. 506 and user decoders 508, which detect and separate data from the carrier in the light cone 106 after it is received from the free space by the user's antenna 302. The light cone detectors 502 detect and focus the light cone 106 on a photodetector (not shown). The light cone detectors 502 may include a concentrator (not shown) that concentrates the light cone 106 and focuses it without loss. After detecting and focusing the data in the light cone 106 they are amplified with a preamplifier (not shown) converted to serial form with a serializer (not shown) and converted by protocol using a protocol converter (not shown). The pre-amplifier, serializer and protocol converter are available on a G-NIC network interface card manufactured by Packet Engines, as described above with reference to modulators 404. In this mode, the protocol converter can now convert the modulation of light cone 106 to a format Gigabit Ethernet or reduce it to a 100 Mbits format. The detectors also include well-known pattern masks such as diffraction gratings. The light cone detectors 502 output the light cone 106 to the user demodulators 504. Illustrative light cone detectors 502 are implemented in PIN diode in a 1550 nm inventory transceiver unit manufactured by MRV Communications located at 20415 Nordhoff Street, Chatsworth, California 91311. User demodulators 504 demodulate the carrier using well-known demodulation techniques compatible with the modulation schemes used by modulators 404. For example, in one embodiment, user demodulators 504 are implemented on cards PCI Ethernet. The user demultiplexers 506 separate the return wavelengths into separate optical channels separated by frequency using techniques compatible with the multiplexers 406. The demultiplexers 506 may be well-known passive phase dividers or selective phase dividers. The user decoders 508 convert data representation data established by the encoders 402. For example, the user decoders 508 decode data and control signals from a high-speed data stream. One modality is implemented in a MAC flake in G-NIC of Packet Engines. Of course, user decoders 508 can be implemented in any Ethernet, switch or repeater card with the same coding capabilities. The user decoders 508 output decoded data to the user input / output interface 306, which then makes the data available to the peripheral networks 105. Any or all of the components in the embodiments in Figures 2 and 4 or Figures 3 and 5, can be implemented on a single card, respectively. In one embodiment of the invention, the components in Figures 2 and 4 are implemented in a single Packet Engines card. Similarly, the components in Figures 3 and 5 are implemented in a single Packet Engines card. Of course, those skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that a particular physical location for the components in Figures 2 and 4 or Figures 3 and 5 respectively is not essential to practice the modality. Transmission Operation and Reception of Downlink. Figure 6 is a flow chart of a downlink data transmission and reception process 600 performed by the downlink transmission components of the core network 102, the downlink receiving components of the user network 104 and the peripheral networks 105. The process 600 starts at step 602, where the control immediately passes to step 604. In step 604, the central router / switch 204 receives data from the peripheral networks 105 designated for recipients in the user networks 104 or other core networks 102. In step 606, the central router / switch 204 directs the data to the central downlink signal processor 206, where in In step 608, the data is processed for transmission using the encoders 402, modulators 404, multiplexers 406 and power amplifiers 408. Following coding, modulation, multiplexing and amplification, in the step 610, the central transmission antenna 208 transmits the data. to the free space in the light cone 106. In step 612, the user antenna 302 receives the light cone 106. The user's downlink signal processor uario 304 processes the light cone 106 to remove the carrier data, and separate one or more of the channels. In step 614, the user input / output interface 306 sends this data to the peripheral networks 105, as indicated by step 616 and / or user equipment and devices 308, indicated by step 618, as appropriate. Following steps 616 and 618, the operation of process 600 is completed, as indicated by step 620. Upstream Transmission and Reception Structure. Figure 7 is an illustrative block diagram of uplink transmission components of user network 104. Peripheral network 105 sends data for transmission to central networks 102 via user interface 306 and / or user interfaces. devices and user equipment 308 and sends them to a user uplink signal processor 702. The user uplink signal processor 702 outputs the data to the user antenna 302 for transmission to the free space in the beam of collimated light 108, which is received by the central networks 102. The user uplink signal processor 702 is described more fully below with reference to Figure 9. Figure 8 is an illustrative block diagram of components for reception uplink of central networks 102. A central reception antenna 802 receives data transmitted from user networks 104, processes data using a central uplink signal processor 804 and directing the data to the peripheral networks 105 via the central router / switch 204. The central system controller 210 controls the operation of the router / central router 204 and the link signal processor central uplink 804. The central uplink signal processor 804 is described more fully below with reference to Figure 10. Figure 9 is an illustrative block diagram of user uplink signal processor 702 components. signal, uplink of illustrative user 702 includes user multiplexers 902, user modulators 904 and user optical transmitters 906. Multiplexers 902 operate similarly to multiplexers 402 in the central downlink signal processor 206, since the 902 multiplexers can combine channels using WDM, OTDM, HDWDM, heterodyne detection techniques and coherent multiple channel homodines, fused filter couplers or Soliton multiplexers, for example. The user modulators 904 operate similarly to the modulators 404 of the central downlink signal processor 206. For example, the user modulators 904 may implement several types of well-known modulation schemes used for communications. In one aspect of the invention, user modulators 904 are implemented in PCI cards Well-known Ethernet whose input and output are by optical fibers. The user optical transmitters 906 perform well-known optical signal processing in the data before sending output to the user antenna 302.

An illustrative optical transmitter 906 includes a laser, an amplifier and a telescope. This method uses a telescope manufactured by MEADE in Irvine, California, whose eyepiece has been adapted to allow an element of optical fibers to be inserted (in such a way that the laser light can be sent to the telescope and thus transmitted to the free space. ). The output of the user optical transmitters 906 is sent to the user antenna 302, which transmits the multiplexed and modulated data such as the collimated light beam 108, to the central networks 102. The central networks 102 receive the collimated light beam 108. , process it using the central uplink signal processor 804 and send the data to any of the peripheral networks 105. Figure 10 is a block diagram of uplink components of the illustrative core network 102. As Figure 10 shows, the antenna central reception 802 receives the collimated light beams 108 from the free space. The central receiving antenna 802 receives the collimated light beams 108 using an optical reception antenna, which in an embodiment of the invention uses holographic optical elements. The central uplink signal processor 804 includes collimated beam detectors 1002, central demodulators 1004 and central demultiplexers 1006. The collimated beam detectors 1002 detect and focus the collimated light beam 108 and provide spatial shifts, to spatially separate and separately detect each collimated light beam 108 at either identical or different wavelengths. The collimated beam detectors 1002 may be similar to a two-dimensional set of photodetectors, each receiving a collimated light beam 108 from a different user network 104 or a lower level node. The collimated beam detectors 1002 send out signals corresponding to the different collimated light beams 108. The receiving antenna 802 outputs the corresponding signals to the different collimated light beams received 108 to the central demodulators. 1004. In one mode, the collimated beam detectors 1002 focus the collimated light beam 108 on a 1500 nm detector that detects data at speeds exceeding 10 Mbps. This detector is available from MRV Communications.

The central demodulators 1004 demodulate the carrier using well-known demodulation techniques compatible with the modulation schemes employed by the user modulators 904. For example, in one embodiment, the central demodulators 1004 are implemented in well-known PCI Ethernet cards. The central demultiplexers 1006 further separate the return wavelengths into spatially independent optical channels, using techniques compatible with the user multiplexers 902. As such, the central demultiplexers 1006 may be passive phase splitters or well-known selective phase dividers. The central demultiplexers 1006 output data to the central router / switch 204 which then makes the data available to the peripheral networks 105. Uplink Transmission and Reception Operation. Figure 11 is a flow diagram of an uplink data transmission reception process 1100 performed by the uplink transmission components of the core network 102, the uplink reception components 104 of the user network and the peripheral networks 105. The process 1100 begins at step 1102, where the control immediately passes to step 1104. At step 1104, the user's power / output interface 306 receives data from the peripheral networks 105 and directs the data to the user uplink signal process 702. In step 1106, the user uplink signal processor 702 processes the data for transmission using the user multiplexers 902, user modulators 904 and user optical transmitters 906. In the step 1108, the user antenna 302 transmits the data to the free space in the collimated light beam 108. In step 1110, the central receiving antenna 802 receives the beam of light collimated 108 of free space. In step 1112, the central uplink signal processor 804 invokes steps 352 to 358 of the user system controller 310 of the receive function 350 of the user system controller 310 (see for example, Figure 3B) and process the collimated light beam 108 to remove data from the carrier and separate one or more of the channels. In step 1114 the central router / switch 204 sends the data to the peripheral networks 105 as indicated by step 1114 and / or the other core networks 102, indicated by step 1116 as appropriate. Following steps 1114 and 1116, the operation of process 1100 is complete, as indicated by the step 1118. It is noted that it may be less expensive to transmit from the user networks 104 to the central network 102 using the collimated light beam 108, as opposed to a conformed and divergent light cone 106, as it is transmitted from the central network 102 to the networks 104. For example, collimated light beams 108 require less power. Furthermore, transmission using collimated light beams 108 ensures that there is little interference between bi-directional light transmissions between central networks 102 and user networks 104. It must be remembered that the communication system 100 (see for example, Figure 1) also supports conventional methods of data communications. Accordingly, the communication network 100 can communicate at data rates proportional to the communication medium. For example, the communications system 100 can transmit to the free space at a data rate and receive via telephone lines at a different data rate (for example lower). Data Packet Structure As described above, the communication system 100 uses packet switching technology, wherein the data is divided into individual data packets prior to transmission and they route through different network elements and can therefore arrive at different times or out of sequence. If they are received out of sequence, the individual data packets are reassembled at the intended destination. Figure 12 illustrates a data packet 1200 suitable for use with the communication system 100.

The data pack 1200 includes a load 1202, which is typically the data content. For example, the data content can be stock quotes, video / audio for teleconference, etc. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the particular load may vary according to the application and may include information required to facilitate reassembly of the data packets in the original data sequence. The data pack 1200 also includes a spindle 1204. The spindle 1204 typically includes a destination address 1206 that specifies the target network element (or recipient) to which the data packet 1200 is to be directed. That is, the address 1206 specifies that central network 102, user network 104, or peripheral network 105, or its lower level nodes is the designated recipient of particular data pack 1200. When recipients recognize their particular address 1206 in data pack 1200, the recipients accept payload 1202 added to address 1206. Data packet 1200 also includes a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) 1208, which is used to detect errors in the transmission of data packet 1200. Other forms of detection and correction can be used instead of, or in addition to, CRC 1208.

The data packet 1200 may also include error correction data under any conventional error correction method. The data packet 1200 also includes a miscellaneous portion 1210 for miscellaneous data and control information such as for two-station or broadcast broadcast stereophonic sessions. An illustrative data pack 1200 is a SONET data packet structure. An alternative is a packet of Internet protocol data (IP = Internet Protocol) standard, (for example Ipv.4 data packets, (Ipv.6) with an 802.3 IEEE Ethernet structure) Sectorization It should be remembered that in one modality, the data is sent from the central networks 102 to the user networks 104 using the light cones 106, and that the light cones 106 are coherent shaped and divergent light beams. Several divergent and configured coherent light cones 106 radiate in the substantially circular radiation pattern that illuminates any or all of the parts of the area surrounding the central networks 102, much like a theater projecting lamp illuminates a forum. Parts of the illuminated areas can be emphasized or made "brighter" than others, in order to provide more signal strength in selected areas. As in the case with the theater projecting lamp, the light cones 106 can be configured in any way.

Radiation pattern radii can be anywhere from a quarter of a meter to more than three kilometers.

Each central network 102 optically forms the laser radiation patterns in narrow radial sectors containing elevation sectors in which the wavelengths of infrared laser light are transmitted. In a modality, the central downlink signal processor 206 configures the laser beam in the desired radiation pattern, with radial (or horizontal) sectors and / or elevation (or vertical) sectors further divided into several channels. Each channel is assigned particular wavelengths. A user may be assigned a wavelength such that the core networks 102 transmit a high-speed data stream to each user or group of users at the assigned wavelength. Each vertical sector and each horizontal sector may have one or more channels of different wavelengths. Each of the channels can carry at least 10 Gbps of data. This assembly or structure allows a data transmission capacity that exceeds 20 Tbps and can serve thousands of users. Figure 13 illustrates an illustrative transmission point 1301 with sectorization 1300. In accordance with this modality, there are several horizontal sub-sectors, as represented by sub-sectors 1302a, 1302b and 1302c.

Each sector can have vertical sub-sectors, as represented by sub-sectors 1306a and 1306b. Each vertical or horizontal sub-sector can also be divided into another sub-sector. Each horizontal sub-sector 1302a-c and / or vertical sub-sector 1306a-c may have one or more wavelength channels (not shown). When the communication system 100 communicates using the 1301 transmission point with the pattern of 1300 sectorization, the address in the data package 1200. specifies the appropriate sector 1302 and the wavelength channel. It should be noted that the highly controllable shaped beams make the re-use of wavelength (or frequency) using the communication system 100 not an aspect. The sectors in the communication system 100 are strictly spatially separated, and so such that any channel can be used in any sector. This technique of spatial reuse provides distinct advantages over common non-optical systems. Conventional frequency reuse schemes were necessary due to interference of the lateral lobe of the radiation pattern, caused by well-known right-hand phrasing. The implementation of divergent and shaped coherent sectors and light beams 106, avoids problems of lateral lobe interference and thus avoids the need for frequency re-use schemes.

To achieve this, the central transmission antennas 208 use central geometric antennas that are very large in terms of operating wavelength (e.g., approximately 8 times the wavelength). By contrast, conventional radio antennas are approximately the same size as the carrier wavelength, so that they can not use geometric optical components for their transmission sectors. The transmission point 1301 with the sectoring pattern 1300 can generate several types of "footprints", as defined herein as a coverage area projected onto the buildings that host the user networks 104 by the beam radiated from the transmission point 1301 In one embodiment, the transmission point 1301 has shaped sectorization, designed to project an approximately circular footprint in the buildings that host the user networks 104. Of course, the invention is not limited by the shape of the footprints. Figure 14 illustrates examples of various convenient traces 1402a-c generated by the central transmission antennas 208. While in some cases only one central transmission antenna 208 is illustrated by sets of transmitted light cones 106, it will be understood that for example the central transmission antenna 208a includes several telescopes, each capable of generating a radiation pattern uniquely. For example, as a telescope of the central transmission antenna 208c generates a light cone 106d that produces a substantially circular fingerprint 1402d, another telescope of the central transmission antenna 208c generates a light cone (not shown) that produces substantially heptagonal tracks. 1402. Other footprints include hexagonal elliptical, donut, square, etc. For example, with reference again to Figure 13, sub-sector 1302 will generate an elliptical footprint. Sub-sector 1306a produces a hexagonal imprint. Sub-sector 1306b generates a fingerprint in the form of a donut. One purpose of superimposing radiation patterns is to provide data at different capacities or data rates to the same building. Of course, the particular radiation pattern employed is determined by a number of factors, including the size and shape of the building that hosts the user networks, for example that ensures that the power of the optical signal is used effectively. The communications system 100 may also include an optical repeater 1404, which receives, reconstructs and amplifies the light cones 106 in one form or bi-directionally and retransmits them to the user networks 104. Optical repeater 1404 compensates for dead spots in the transmission patterns. The optical repeater 1404 in this manner acts as an extension between the core networks 102. The optical repeater 1404, while illustrated as a single element, may contain multiple receiver-transmitter pairs that detect, reconstruct, amplify and re-transmit the cones of light 106, under the components discussed above with respect to Figures 2 to 6. Figure 15 shows an illustrative topography 1500 surrounding the core networks 102 by the sectorization pattern 1300. The modality illustrated in the topography 1500 includes three patterns of Hexagonal light propagation 1502a, 1502b and 1502c. In this embodiment, each pattern of sectorization 1300 has 36 sectors, wherein one sector in each sectorization pattern 1300 is represented by sectors 1502a1 # 1502b_ and 1502c !, respectively.

An alternate modality has 60 radial sectors, each with six degrees of azimuth, and five elevation sectors, each with eight channels that allow a data rate of 10 Mbps to 10 Gbps. Still another modality divides a radiation pattern into 120 sectors of three degrees, with each sector providing 10 Mbps at 10 Gbps to the user networks 104. Figure 15 also illustrates several central networks 102, interconnected by links of optical backbone with ultra wide bandwidth 1510. The optical main structure links 1510 also allow interconnection with Internet POPs, main carriers, PSTN, or other peripheral networks 105. Interconnected systems, methods and devices for bi-directional high-speed data communication In network through the free space described herein, they are particularly convenient for use in haze environment conditions, where the optical signals are susceptible to attenuation. In London, England, a point-to-point laser communication study produces reliable data that, when combined with a historical database, produces a weather database with 40 years of data collected on a per-hour basis. With this type of information, the parameters of the communications system 100 can be modified to compensate certain atmospheric conditions. For example, the power output of the central transmission antennas 208 and / or user antennas 302, cell radios, sensitivity of the detectors and / or data rate may be increased or decreased as appropriate. Similarly, the size of the antennas can be adjusted to compensate for any anticipated attenuation of the signal. The coverage area of the radiation pattern generated by the central transmission antenna 208 can also be predetermined by design, to anticipate atmospheric conditions. For example, in the city of Seattle, Washington, which is known for haze conditions, typically causes strong attenuation, radiation patterns can be reduced to a quarter of a mile, as opposed to two-kilometer radiation patterns appropriate for sunny sites .

Other suitable modifications include changing the shape of the light cones 106, changing the tint of the windows through which the light cones / light beams are transmitted, changing the intensities of the optical amplifier, etc. Broadcast Operation and Stereophonic Broadcast with Two Stations It should be remembered that the communication system 100 makes broadcast and stereophonic broadcast with two data stations of the central networks 102. During the broadcast operations, the data is transmitted from any of the central networks 102 or their lower level nodes to all user networks 104 and / or all peripheral networks 105 and / or their lower level nodes, for example. Any well-known broadcast addressing scheme is suitable for implementing this modality. During stereophonic broadcast communication with two point-to-multiple point stations, select user networks 104, peripheral networks 105 and / or their lower level nodes receive data. This mode is ideal in situations where the content of identical data is desired to be transmitted to a particular group of user networks 104 and / or peripheral networks 105 substantially simultaneously (eg during video teleconferencing).

In this embodiment, the miscellaneous portion 1210 of the data pack 1200, illustrated in FIG. 12, includes a stereophonic broadcast session identifier with two stations (not shown) that identifies a stereo broadcast session with two stations and a set of users. which are the recipients of the transmission during the session of stereophonic broadcast with two particular stations. The content of the transmission that a member of a stereophonic broadcast session group with two stations receives is substantially the same as the high-speed data that another member of the stereophonic broadcast session group with two stations receives during a stereophonic broadcast session with two particular stations. Each stereophonic broadcast session identifier with two stations is associated with a set of unique addresses. There is a unique address for each recipient of the stereophonic broadcast data with two stations. The core network 102 transmits the stereophonic broadcast session identifiers with two stations to the recipients, which the association uses to determine the unique address by each of the recipients associated with the set of unique addresses. The core network 102 adds the unique addresses for the recipients to each data packet 1200 that is received from other interconnected networks before transmitting the received data packet 1200 to the specified set of recipients. Each core network 102 may also include a plurality of stereophonic broadcast session identifier translation tables with two stations for translating stereophonic broadcast session identifiers with two stations in unique addresses for the subscribers. There may be one or more stereophonic broadcast sessions with 'two stations identified by session identifiers of stereophonic broadcast with two stations. Each of the stereophonic broadcast session identifiers with two stations is associated with a set of unique addresses that represent a user set. The core network 102 includes at least one translation table to correlate the identifiers of multiple sessions, with each set of unique addresses for the set of selected recipients. Table 1 is an example of a stereophonic broadcast session identification table with two stations, suitable for use with one embodiment of the invention. Table 1 lists stereophonic broadcast sessions with two exemplary stations (1 to 4), functional group identifiers (A to D) for the functional groups associated with a stereophonic broadcast session with two particular stations, sets of addresses for particular recipients in the particular functional group and recipients associated with the unique addresses designated to receive transmissions during the stereophonic broadcast session with two particular stations. It should be noted that stereo broadcast sessions with two stations may have overlapping recipients so that one recipient can be included in the stereophonic broadcast session with two "1" stations as well as in the stereo broadcast session with two "2" stations . It should be noted that the recipients are designated 104a to 104d, to represent any of several user networks 104 or several of their level nodes minor, Table 1 @ Session of Group ID Addresses Destination Functional Issuance Single stations stereophonic with two stations 0112 3456, 7890 104a 0223 4567.8901 104b 0334 5678.9012 104c 0445, 6789.0123 104d B 0445, 6789, 0123 104d 0223 4567, 8901 104b 0334 5678.9012 104c 0445 6789, 0123 104d 0112 3456 7890 104a D 0445 6789, 0123 104d 0334 5678 9012 104c Figure 16 is a flow chart showing a stereophonic broadcast process with two illustrative stations 1600. The stereophonic broadcast process with two stations 1600 is started in step 1602, where the control immediately passes to step 1604. In the stage 1604, one of the peripheral networks 105 transmits high-speed data and a stereophonic broadcast session identifier with two stations to the central network 102. For example, according to Table 1, during the first stereo broadcast session with two stations , one of the peripheral networks 105 transmits the functional group identifier "A" to the central network 102. In step 1606, the central network 102 receives the high-speed data and the stereophonic broadcast session identifier with two stations. In step 1608, the central network 102 determines the functional group associated with the stereophonic broadcast session with two stations by searching in its translation table. In step 1610, the core network 102 determines the set of recipients in the functional group. In step 1612, the core network 102 determines the unique address of each recipient in the set of containers in the functional group. For example, the core network 102 searches its stereophonic broadcasting session identifier translation table with two stations to determine the unique address for the recipient sets associated with the functional group identifier "A". In step 1614, the core network 102 adds the unique address for the recipient sets to the high-speed data that is received from the core network 102 and transmits the resulting high-speed data to the receivers 104a-d. Once the high-speed data has been transmitted from the core network 102 to the receivers 104a-d, the stereophonic broadcast process with two stations 1600 ends, as indicated by step 1616. i It is noted that the bending schemes and demultiple that are used by the core networks 102 differ from the bending and demultiplexing schemes employed by the user networks 104 in that the bending and demolding schemes of the core networks 102 have additional levels of address translation, to adjust the addressing of IP addresses of entry to the appropriate addresses. The additional addressing is implemented in the central router / switch 204. All of the optical components described herein can be circumscribed in a "black box", such as a Faraday cage, to isolate the external interference optical components such as extraneous optical frequencies. Circumscribing the optical components in a black box is less expensive and simpler than conventional methods to eliminate external interference. It should be remembered that the central router / switch 204 connects the core network 102 to the peripheral networks 105 and the user networks 104, allowing data to be exchanged between them. It should also be remembered that the central router / switch 204 supports NICs implemented in a G-NIC network interface card available from Packet Engines. Figure 17 shows an illustrative central router / switch 204 implemented in the network interface card G-NIC. The central router / switch 204 in this mode includes a gigabit uplink port 1702 and up to two server ports: an optional gigabit server port 1704 and a 10/100 Ethernet 1706 server port. The central router / switch 204 it also includes an adhesive logic and a memory control processor 1707. The gigabit uplink gate 1702 receives data packets 1200 at its input and sends the data packets 1200 to the output of any active server port. At the same time, the central router / switch 204 sends any data packets 1200 received in a feed from the active server port to the output of the gigabit uplink port 1702. It is noted that all the data packets 1200 that come either from any server port 1704, 1706, will be sent to the gigabit uplink port 1702, but the data packets 1200 that come from the gigabit uplink port 1702 destined for any server port 1704, 1706 will be filtered by the memory logic and adhesive control processor 1707. That is, only data packets 1200 that meet the filter requirements will be sent to the appropriate server port 1704, 1706. At a minimum, the link port gigabit uplink 1702 filters received data packets 1200 by accepting only the data packets 1200 intended for a particular Ethernet address. In this embodiment, the gigabit uplink port 1702 also accepts broadcast data packets and stereophonic broadcast data packets with two stations. In one embodiment, filtering can be performed by a host computer system under the objective of a user network 104.

The central router / switch 204 in another mode is connected from one of the server ports directly to a corresponding port in a host computer system located in a user network 104.

In this embodiment, if the gigabit uplink port 1702 uses the same Ethernet address as the port in the guest computer system, the central router / switch 204 supports only that guest in its gigabit uplink port 1702. This it is because the Ethernet address of the host computer system is programmed in the central router / switch 204. In another embodiment, the central router / switch 204"auto-discovers" its Ethernet address from the data packets 1200 that are seen in the server ports. In alternate form, a central router / switch 204 is pre-programmed with the same Ethernet address as an Ethernet card assigned to the host computer system. Some Additional Features Communications system 100 increases both communication capabilities for transmission and reception of conventional communication systems. The much larger capacity is important for scoring because the standard telephone lines are reaching their limit and can only provide approximately 60 Kbps of data network connection. Other network alternatives have been developed, but have their limitations equally. For example, ISDN, which was once considered the preferred solution for wide area networks, is limited to 128 Kbps. The new recently reported ADSL services are limited to 8 Mbps and are asymmetric (fast in only one direction, the downlink) . Existing personal computers (PCs) have the capacity to locally network over 100 Mbps, leaving these wide-area network technologies extremely inadequate. The most published attempt to break the bottleneck bandwidth incorporates satellites in low Earth orbits (LEO = Low Earth Orbits). These satellite networks can obtain data downlink speeds from 1.5 to 28 Mbps. The cost of deploying these systems however is in the range of billions of dollars, and requires years to deploy. Optical fibers and LMDS are also available and planned technologies in the telecommunications market. While LMDS is considered to require only 25% of the capital cost to deploy optical fibers, there seems to be an upper limit of 4 to 6 Gbps of total traffic capacity for a cell with a width of four kilometers, which imposes a significant limit on growth of the system. For example, in an area twice the size of the core business in downtown Seattle, only 40 to 60 concurrent clients can access 100 Mbps. In contrast, the optical communication system 100 can potentially serve up to thousands of these concurrent connections. . The communications system 100 can only require 30% of the capital cost of an LMDS (or approximately 8% fiber) without the limitation of 2 Gbps of total cell capacity. It must be remembered that the communication system 100 has the capacity to communicate at 2.5 Gbps duplex or 1.25 simplex per channel, and its total capacity per system can exceed 2 Tbps. This capacity is a thousand times higher than LMDS and translates into significantly lower infrastructure costs, and the capacity to offer lower prices than competitors and to overcome competitive offers. The communications system 100 achieves these staggered speeds / volumes by combining the wireless, fibers and network concepts, to constitute a unique network that has the capacity to supply terabits of information throughout the world, in a very timely and cost-efficient manner. . The antennas of the communication system 100 are similar in size and shape to a dish or small disk antenna of the type that can be found in many roofs. Nevertheless, the antennas can be placed behind the glass of a window, making the deployment much easier than the installations only on the roofs. While the technology implementing the communications system 100 allows a radius of radiation patterns well above 3 kilometers, for urban nuclei, however, the central networks 102 can be much smaller and depend on the geography of the region as well as the size of the building and the location of the building. Still further, as described above, the communications system 100 has a very advantageous channel reuse property, allowing significantly lower costs, significantly higher capacities and greater bandwidth. Using a very simple example, consider that a core network 102 is sectorized into 120 sectors of three degrees, with each sector supplying 100 Mbps at 2.5 Gbps. In this very simple example, this simple core network 102 has the capacity to supply 300 Gbps to a large number of users. With the addition of extra channels per sector, the data throughput is significantly increased. By using eight channels per sector, the optical communication system 100 has the ability to effectively increase data throughput in a single local core network 102 at 2.4 Tbps. This core network 102 can provide 100 Mbps service to 24,000 concurrent users. This exceeds by far the conventional communication systems. The only nearby competitor is LMDC, which is currently limited to approximately 4 Gbps per cell site. Many of the components in the communication system 100 can be implemented using hardware, software or a combination of hardware and software, and can be implemented in a computer system or other processing system. In aspects where the invention is implemented using physical equipment, the physical equipment components can be application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs = Aplication-Specific Integrated Circuits), or a physical equipment state machine. In aspects that are implemented using software, the software may be stored in a computer program product (such as an optical disk, a magnetic disk, a floppy disk, etc.) or a program storage device (such as a computer). optical disc drive, a magnetic disk drive, a floppy disk drive, etc.). That is, software may be available from a removable disk or from downloaded code on a hard drive. Furthermore, the software may include code stored in a module such as a read-only memory (ROM = Read Only Memory), programmable ROM (PROM Programmable-ROM) or any variation of a PROM to be erased (e.g., EPROM, EEPROM). , etc) . According to one embodiment, the communication system 100 uses well-known time division multiple access techniques (TDMA = Time Division Multiple Access). In TDMA, each user network 104 is assigned one or more TDMA time slots based on the allocated wavelength (or data rate) and the networks communicate with each other during the designated TDMA time slots. When the communication system 100 uses TDMA technology, the communications system 100 can multiple several user networks 104 in one channel TDMA, using well-known diffraction graduation (or pattern mask) to receive only certain bits of the data stream for each user network 104. A resource manager (not shown) coordinates assignments of TDMA time slots. The resource manager negotiates a channel (for example, a time slot at a particular frequency). The interconnection of the arrangement of the light cones 106 and the collimated light beams 108 can be made using standard Internet protocols, such as "open the shortest path first" (OSPF = Open Shortest Pad First) which is a routing algorithm. Link state that is used to calculate routes based on the number of routers, transmission speed, delays, and route costs. The interconnection of the light cones 106 and the collimated light beams 108 can also be achieved using other well-known routing or routing algorithms. Figure 18 shows an alternate mode of communication system 100. This alternate mode uses a multiple access receiver / transmitter (MART = Multi-Access Receiver / Transmiter) 1802 for both transmission and reception. The core network 102 is connected to the MART 1802 by a transmission link 1800. The transmission link 1800 is a physical line link, such as a telephone line or fiber optic cable, but it is also possible to use a wireless link ( for example radio frequency, laser light, etc.). Additionally, while Figure 18 illustrates the central network 102 and the MART 1802 separated, as remote components, it is appreciated that the MART 1802 may be within the core network 102. The MART 1802 includes a set 1804 of central transmission antennas 208 and center receiving antennas 802. The central transmission antennas 208 in the Figure 18 are located coaxially to the center of their respective central receiving antennas 802. Other modifications are possible. For example, the central transmission antennas 208 may be located near (eg, separated from) their respective central receiving antennas 802, instead of being coaxially located. It is also possible to use the same optical device to transmit and receive if the wavelength separation between the transmitted and received signals is adequate. The downlink transmission from the core network 102 to the user network 104 and / or the peripheral network 105 uses a concept of dividing a single diffusion beam into several light cones 106, with each light cone 106 having all the information present in the simple broadcast beam. First, one or more power amplifiers 408, such as an EDFA of 500 mW, in the MART 1802 divides the single broadcast beam received through the transmission link 1800 and provides the individual signals to respective central transmission antennas 208. central transmission antennas 208 then transmit the individual signals as light cones 106 to the user network 104 and / or the peripheral network 105. The structure 1804 or the individual central transmission antennas 208 and the central reception antennas 802 can be mounted, for example in one or more Gimbal structures for directing the transmitted light cones 106. Available optical components are used to focus and direct the light cones 106 as necessary. The embodiment shown in Figure 18 allows one or more light cones 106 to focus on particular receivers in the user network 104 or the peripheral network 105. That is, instead of transmitting to an entire building, light cones can be transmitted. separated 106 to particular receivers in the building. In addition, the separate light cones 106 may have different power, such that light cones 106 having higher power are transmitted to receivers that are further away or behind very dark stained windows, and light cones 106 that have less power. power are transmitted to receivers of nearest rank. Also, MART 1802 can transmit to more than one building, such that some light cones 106 are transmitted to a building and other light cones 106 are transmitted to other buildings. By adjusting the transmission power level and pointing or directing the central transmission antennas 208 in the proper direction, this power amplifier 408 can be assigned between the various light cones 106, such that light cones 106 that require less power will be reduced in power while the other light cones 106 that require more power increase more correspondingly in the power. In addition, the transmission coverage range of the MART 1802 is easily changed by adjusting the number of separations in the power amplifier 408. A sector of up to an integral hemisphere is possible by dividing a single diffusion signal with the power amplifier 408. and providing central transmission antennas 208 in each quadrant. The MART 1802 may also receive collimated light beams 108 from the user network 104 and / or the peripheral network 105. A plurality of collimated light beams 108 sent from individual transmitters in the user network 104 and / or the peripheral network 105 it is received by the central reception antennas 802 in the MART 1802. Like the transmission of the MART 1802 described above, the uplink transmission of the collimated light beams 108 from the user network 104 and / or the peripheral network 105 to the MART 1802, allows multiple signals to be linked to MART 1802. Many possible design parameters can be used for the modality shown in Figure 18. For example, a sector of twelve degrees can project a cone of light 106 of 100 meters in diameter to a distance of 500 meters. A beam of 3 mrad can project a cone of light 106 that has a diameter of 1.5 meters at a distance of 500 meters. Using the same transmission power and considering zero losses during the separation, a beam of 3 mrad can be projected in each of 4,444 clients and have the same power density as the twelve-degree sector. Alternatively, service can be provided to 100 customers with a link margin of 16 dB for each. The increased link margin can be used to reduce the size and costs of each customer receiver. Although specific aspects of and examples for the invention are described herein for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the invention and may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention, as will be recognized by those skilled in the art. relevant. For example, although a laser generating the various light beams and light transmissions has been described herein, other light generating devices such as light emitting diodes (LEDs = Light Emiting Diodes) can be used. Also, although the collimated light beams 108 are used in the network uplink components (see for example, Figures 7 to 10) and the light cones 106 are used in the network downlink components (see for example, Figures 2 and 3 to 5) in the embodiments described herein, it will be appreciated that in some embodiments, the network uplink components can use the light cones 106 or the network downlink components can use the collimated light beams 108. In addition, several channels can be used (see, for example, frequency domain) in the uplink equally, with appropriate coordination between a user and a central node. The teachings provided herein of embodiments of the invention can be applied to optical links made functional by any standard network interconnection. For example, the network interface card G-NIC (see for example, Figure 2) can be implemented in PCs. In addition, one or more components or functions of the communication system 100 can be incorporated into a computer network, computer readable medium ( such as magnetic cartridges, digital video discs, CD-ROMs, Bernoulli cartridges, random access memory (RAM = Random Access Memory), ROMs, smart cards, etc.) and their associated devices. One or more components or functions of the communication system 100 can be incorporated into computer executable or computer readable instructions such as program modules or macros executable by a microprocessor or by a computer. How to implement these types of characteristics can be understood by a person with skill in the specialty, based on the detailed description provided here. These and other changes can be made to the invention in light of the above detailed description. In general in the following claims, the terms employed shall not be construed as limiting the invention to the specific aspects illustrated in the specification and claims, but shall be considered to include all optical communication systems that operate under the claims to provide inter alia , optical communication of high speed data. Accordingly, the invention is not limited by the description, but on the contrary the scope of the invention will be fully determined by the following claims that will be considered in accordance with the established doctrines of the interpretation of claims. 102 105 Peripheral network 104 User network 102 Central network 102 Central network 105 Peripheral networks Data line 208 Central transmission antenna Information line Central network downlink components 102 Waiting list 1 Waiting list 2 Waiting list 3 Waiting list 4 Waiting list 1 Waiting list 2 Waiting list 3 Waiting list 4 Sheet 4 Fig. 2A 211 START 212 DETERMINES THAT WAITING LIST GOES AHEAD 200 TRANSMISSION FUNCTION OF THE CENTRAL SYSTEM CONTROLLER 214 ENCRYPTION AND MULTIPLEIZED SYNC WITH CONTROLLER OF THE 103 USER SYSTEM (PROTOCOL TO ESTABLISH COMMUNICATIONS) 216 CENTRAL SYSTEM CONTROLLER DETERMINES CODING PARTICULAR TO BE USED 218 CENTRAL SYSTEM CONTROLLER DECIDES WHEN THE TRANSMIT PACKAGE 220 FINISHED SHEET 5 105 PERIPHERAL NETWORKS 104 NETWORK DESCENDANT LINK RECEPTION COMPONENTS USER 304 USER DESCENDANT LINK SIGNAL PROCESSOR 306 I USER INPUT / OUTPUT TERMS 308 USER'S DEVICE AND DEVICES 302 USER'S ANTENAS 310 USER SYSTEM CONTROLLER SHEET 6 311 HOME 312 DETERMINES TYPE, QUANTITY, AND SPEED OF DATA TO BE TRANSMITED 300 TRANSMISSION FUNCTION OF THE USER SYSTEM CONTROLLER WITH MULTI-PURCHASE SYSTEM WITH TIME DIVISION (TDM) OF SIGNAL RING 314 COMMUNICATES INFORMATION 312 TO CONTROLLER OF THE CENTRAL SYSTEM 104 316 TRANSMITS DATA DURING THE USEFUL LIFE OF SIGNAL 317 MORE DATA? YES 318 RETURNS SIGNAL TO CENTRAL CONTROLLER 320 WAITING NEXT CENTRAL CONTROLLER SIGNAL PLATE 7 352 RECEIVES DATA PACK / DESMODULA 350 RECEIVING FUNCTION OF SYSTEM CONTROLLER USER 354 HEAD EXAMINATION / DETERMINES IF THE PACKAGE ADDRESS OF DATA CORRESPONDS WITH THE ADDRESS OF THE USER SYSTEM. 356 ADDRESS CORRECT? YES 358 DESCIFIES 362 EMPTY DATA PACKAGE 360 SENDS TO EQUIPMENT AND USER DEVICES SHEET 8 206 CENTRAL DESCENDING LINK SIGNAL PROCESSOR 404 MODULATORS 406 MULTIPLEXERS 402 ENCODERS 202 CENTER INPUT / OUTPUT INTERFACE 105 PERIPHERAL NETWORKS 408 POWER AMPLIFIER 208 CENTRAL TRANSMISSION ANTENNA 105 SHEET 9 312 USER ANTENNA 105 PERIPHERAL NETWORKS 304 USER DESCENDANT 506 DESCENDANT LINK PROCESSOR 502 USER DETECTORS LIGHT CONE 508 USER DECODERS 504 END USER DEMODULATORS 306 USER ENTRY / EXIT INTERFACE SHEET 10 602 HOME 604 RECEIVES PERIPHERAL NETWORK DATA 606 DIRECT DATA TO LINK SIGNAL PROCESSOR CENTRAL DESCENDANT 608 PROCESA DATA FOR TRANSMISSION 610 TRANSMIT DATA IN THE CONE OF LIGHT TO THE FREE SPACE 612 RECEIVES FREE SPACE LIGHT CONE DATA 614 PROCESS DATA RECEIVED 616 SEND DATA TO FINAL USER EQUIPMENT 618 SEND DATA TO PERIPHERAL NETWORK 620 FINISHED SHEET 11 308 USER EQUIPMENT 310 USER SYSTEM CONTROLLER 104 UP-TO-DATE NETWORK COMPONENTS USER 106 FINAL 306 USER INPUT / OUTPUT INTERFACE 702 USER UPLOAD PROCESSOR 302 USER ANTENNA 105 PERIPHERAL NETWORK SHEET 12 204 CENTRAL SWITCH / ROUTER 804 CENTRAL UP-LINKED SIGNAL PROCESSOR 210 CENTRAL SYSTEM CONTROLLER 108 CENTRAL RECEPTION ANTENNA 802 CENTRAL NETWORK ASCENDING LINK COMPONENTS 105 PERIPHERAL NETWORK SHEET 13 105 PERIPHERAL NETWORKS 306 USER ENTRY / EXIT INTERFACE 302 USER'S ANTENNAS 904 USER MODULATORS 906 USER'S OPTICAL TRANSMITTER (S) 902 USER MULTIPLEXER (S) 702 ASCENDANT LINK SIGNAL PROCESSOR USER SHEET 14 105 PERIPHERAL NETWORKS 204 CONTROL UNIT 1004 CENTRAL CONTROL UNIT 1002 CHEMICAL DETECTOR (S) 107 1006 CENTRAL DISTRIBUTOR 802 CENTER RECEPTION ANTENNA SHEET 15 1102 HOME 1104 RECEIVE DATA 1106 PROCESS DATA FOR TRANSMISSION 1108 TRANSMIT DATA IN BEAM LIGHT TO FREE SPACE 1110 CENTRAL STATION RECEIVES DATA IN THE LIGHT BEAM OF THE FREE SPACE 1112 PASS THROUGH CONTROLLER RECEIVING FUNCTION OF SYSTEM, FIGURE 3B 356 ADDRESS CORRECT? YES 358 DESCIFIES 1114 SENDS DATA TO PERIPHERAL NETWORKS 1118 FINISHED 1116 SENDS DATA TO CENTRAL NETWORKS SHEET 16 1206 ADDRESS 1202 USEFUL LOAD 1204 SHEET HEAD 18 102 CENTRAL NETWORK SHEET 19 105 PERIPHERAL NETWORK 108 PERIPHERAL NETWORK PLATE 20 1602 HOME 1604 TRANSMIT DATA AND IDENTIFIER OF STEREO SIGNAL SESSION WITH TWO STATIONS 1600 EXHIBIT DATA AND IDENTIFIER OF SESSION OF EMISSION STEREOPHONIC WITH TWO STATIONS 1608 DETERMINES FUNCTIONAL GROUP 1610 DETERMINES SET OF SUBSCRIBERS 1612 DETERMINES ADDRESS OF SUBSCRIBERS 1614 SENDS DATA TO EACH SUBSCRIBER IN THE FUNCTIONAL GROUP 1616 ENCLOSURE PLATE 21 ENTRY OUTPUT 1802 UPPER LINK PORT GIGABIT 1707 ADHESIVE LOGIC AND CONTROL PROCESSOR 1704 OPTIONAL GIGABIT SERVER PORT 1706 ETHERNET SERVER PORT 10/100 INPUT DEPARTURE ENTRY DEPARTURE SHEET 22 102 CENTRAL NETWORK 109 104 USER NETWORK 105 PERIPHERAL NETWORK

Claims (1)

1. 80 CLAIMS 1. A communication system, characterized in that it comprises: a peripheral node configured to transmit at least a first information signal and configured to receive a second information signal; at least one central node configured to receive the first information signal from the peripheral node and transmit the first received information signal through the modulated free space in a first light beam, configured to transmit the second information signal to the peripheral node and configured to receive at least one third information signal of the modulated free space in a second light beam; and at least one user node configured to receive the first light beam and demodulate the first information signal modulated from the free space, and configured to transmit the third information signal through the free space, modulated in the second light beam . 2. - The communication system according to claim 1, characterized in that the first light beam comprises a laser beam configured and divergent and the second beam of light comprises a beam of collimated light. 3. - The communication system according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one central node includes: a plurality of central nodes that form a central network, each central node is configured to transmit a plurality of first modulated information signals in coherent divergent light beams and configured through free space; and wherein at least the user node includes a plurality of user nodes forming a user network, each user node is configured to receive the plurality of first information signals modulated in coherent, divergent, and conformed beams of light. through free space, and where the central nodes are configured to transmit to the user nodes in a node-to-node, node-to-multiple point, multiple node-to-node, or multiple-to-multiple point . 4. A method for transmitting data between a central point and at least one user, the method is characterized in that it comprises: at the central point, modulate data and at least one user address in a light beam; at the central point, transmit the beam of light through the free space; demodulate the light beam and recover the data and the user address as a minimum; direct the data to the user according to the user's address; and transmit data from the user to a central point. 5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that the light beam in which the data is modulated and the user address as the minimum comprises a beam of divergent and shaped light. 6. - The method according to claim 4, characterized in that the light beam in which the data and the user address are at least modulated comprise a beam of coherent, divergent and shaped light. 7. - The method according to claim 4, characterized in that the beam of light in which the data and the user address are at least modulated comprise a laser beam. 8. - The method according to claim 4, characterized in that it further comprises: modulating the data and the various user addresses in a light beam; direct the data to the different user addresses; and transmitting data from at least one of the users to a central point through free space or through at least one telephone line. 9. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that it further comprises transmitting the light beam through the free space to several user directions in a point-to-point, point-to-multiple point, multiple point- a-point, or multiple points-to-multiple points. 10. A communication system, characterized in that it comprises: a central node configured to transmit through the free space an information signal modulated in a coherent, divergent beam of light; and a user node configured to receive the coherent, divergent beam of light from the free space and automatically process the modulated information signal, wherein the coherent divergent beam of light, as received at the user node, has different beam dimensions of coherent, divergent light in the central node. 11. The communication system according to claim 10, characterized in that it further comprises: a plurality of central nodes, each configured to transmit through the free space a plurality of information signals modulated in a plurality of divergent light beams and a plurality of user nodes, each configured to receive from the free space the information signals modulated in divergent light beams, wherein the central nodes are configured to transmit to the user nodes in a form of broadcast, simultaneous diffusion, or stereophonic broadcast with two stations. 12. - The communication system according to claim 10, characterized in that the central node is configured to transmit through the free space to the user node in a form of broadcast or stereophonic broadcast with two stations. 13. The communications system according to claim 10, characterized in that it also comprises a peripheral node, configured to transmit the information signal to the central node for modulation. 14. The communication system according to claim 10, characterized in that it also comprises a common carrier, virtual node or an area node configured to transmit the information signal to the central node for modulation. 15. The communication system according to claim 10, characterized in that the central node and the user node are interconnected using synchronous optical network architectures (SONET). 16. The communication system according to claim 10, characterized in that it also comprises a peripheral node, wherein the central node, user node and peripheral node are interconnected using synchronous optical network architectures (SONET). 17. The communication system according to claim 10, characterized in that the central node and the user node are interconnected using gigabit Ethernet architectures. 18. - The communication system according to claim 10, characterized in that it also comprises a peripheral node, wherein the central node, user node and peripheral node are interconnected using gigabit Ethernet architectures. 19. The communication system according to claim 10, characterized in that the divergent light beam comprises a conformed coherent infrared laser operating at a wavelength of approximately 1550 nm. 20. The communication system according to claim 10, characterized in that the divergent light beam comprises a laser beam of visible light, near infrared or coherent infrared, shaped. 21. The communications system according to claim 10, characterized in that the divergent light beam comprises a beam of coherent and shaped divergent light. 22. - The communication system according to claim 10, characterized in that it further comprises a diffraction grating, beam shaping lens, or a holographic optical element. 23. The communication system according to claim 10, characterized in that it also comprises an optical component for beam shaping, which horizontally forms the divergent light beam. 24. The communication system according to claim 10, characterized in that in addition 86 comprises an optical component for vertical shaping of the divergent light beam. 25. The communications system according to claim 10, characterized in that the information signal comprises at least one data packet having a head and a payload, the head specifies at least one of the user nodes and the load Useful comprises high bandwidth data. 26. A communication system, characterized in that it comprises at least one user node, configured to transmit an information signal through the free space, modulated in a beam of light; and a central node configured to receive the light beam from the free space and demodulate the information signal from the light beam and send the information signal to a peripheral node. 27. The communication system according to claim 26, characterized in that the light beam comprises a collimated beam. 28. The communications system according to claim 26, characterized in that the light beam comprises a beam of light shaped and divergent. 29. The communication system according to claim 26, characterized in that the user node is configured to transmit the modulated information signal in a collimated laser beam and the central node 87 is configured to receive the information signal modulated in a laser beam collimated. 30. The communications system in accordance with claim 26, characterized in that the user node further comprises an antenna having a diffraction grating, beam shaping lenses or a holographic optical element. 31.- The communications system according to claim 26, characterized in that the light beam comprises a light beam in a region substantially 1550 nm of a light spectrum. 32.- Apparatus configured to transmit an optical carrier through the free space to a plurality of user nodes, characterized in that it comprises: a power gate configured to receive an information signal; a radiant energy generator configured to generate an optical carrier; a signal processor, coupled to the radiant energy generator and the feed gate, configured to process and combine the optical carrier with the information signal; and an antenna, coupled to the signal processor, configured to produce a divergent and shaped radiant energy and to transmit the optical carrier and information signal combined in the divergent radiant energy conformed to the free space. 88 33. The communication system according to claim 32, characterized in that it further comprises a multiplexer configured to combine several information signals of channels of various wavelengths in the optical carrier. 34. - The communications system according to claim 32, characterized in that it also comprises a multiplexer with optical time division (OTDM), multiplexers with high-density wavelength division (HDWDM), a coherent multi-channel heterodyne detector, a coherent multi-channel homodyne detector, a fused filter coupler, a Soliton multiplexer, a frequency combiner, a polarity combiner, a spatial combiner, or an algebraic transform combiner configured to combine various information signals from various channels in the optical carrier. The communication system according to claim 32, characterized in that it also comprises a power amplifier, an amplifier of fibers adulterated with erbium, or an amplifier of adulterated fibers with ytterbium configured to amplify the optical carrier. 36. The communications system according to claim 32, characterized in that in addition 89 comprises an encoder configured to encode data and control signals in the information signal. 37.- Method for transmitting and receiving data between a user point and one of a plurality of peripheral points through a central point, the method is characterized in that it comprises: at the user point, modulate data and at least one peripheral point address in a beam of collimated light; at the user point, transmitting the collimated beam of light through the free space to the central point; at the central point, demodulate the collimated light beam and recover the data and the peripheral point direction; and direct the data to the peripheral point address. 38. The method according to claim 37, characterized in that it further comprises modulating the data and the peripheral point direction in a collimated laser beam. 39.- The method according to claim 38, characterized in that it further comprises: modulating the data and the various peripheral point directions in several collimated light beams; and direct the data to the different addresses of peripheral points. 40. The method according to claim 37, characterized in that it further comprises transmitting the light beams through the free space to 90 the peripheral points in a point-to-point manner, multiple point-to-point or multiple points-to-point. multiple points. 41.- Method for transmitting data, characterized in that it comprises: combining several data channels in a data stream; modulate the data stream at least in a divergent light beam; transmit the divergent beam of light through the free space; demodulate the divergent light beam and recover the data stream; and separating the various data channels from the data stream. , 42 - The method according to claim 41, characterized in that it further comprises: modulating the data stream in a divergent and shaped beam of light; and direct the various data channels to various user devices. 43. - The method according to claim 41, characterized in that it further comprises: modulating the data stream in a shaped beam, divergent and coherent. 44. The method according to claim 41, characterized in that it further comprises: modulating the data stream at least in two laser beams having different wavelengths transmitted on substantially the same divergent cone through the free space. 45.- The method according to claim 91, characterized in that it also comprises transmitting the divergent beam of light through the free space to various users in a point-to-point manner, point-to-multiple points, multiple points-to-point, or multiple points-to-multiple points. 46. The method according to claim 41, characterized in that it further comprises encrypting data in several data channels. 47.- The method of compliance with claim 41, characterized in that it also comprises encoding data in several data channels. 48.- An apparatus for receiving an information signal, characterized in that it comprises: an antenna configured to receive from the free space an optical carrier having an information signal modulated in a beam of divergent coherent light and shaped; a signal processor, coupled to the antenna, configured to process and demodulate the divergent coherent beam of light and shaped to separate the information signal from the optical carrier; and an output gate, coupled to the signal processor, configured to send the information signal to at least one device. 49.- The communication system according to claim 48, characterized in that the antenna includes at least one optical holographic element or a telescope. 50.- The communication system according to claim 48, characterized in that the signal processor includes at least one divergent and conformed coherent light beam detector, a demodulator, a demultiplexer or a decoder. 51.- The communication system according to claim 48, characterized in that the interface is configured to send the information signal to one of a signaling node administration protocol (SNMP) device, a control protocol device of transmission (TCP), a gate, a local area node, a bridge, a printer, a hard disk drive, a graphic display adapter, a television, a television encoder, a telecommunications equipment, video conferencing equipment, equipment audio / visual or home theater electronic components. 52.- Method for transmitting and receiving data, characterized in that it comprises: receiving encoded data and a stereophonic broadcasting session identifier with two stations, the stereophonic broadcast session identifier with two stations, indicating a group of selected recipient user points from among a plurality of user nodes configured to receive the encoded data; transmitting the encoded data and a stereophonic broadcast session identifier with two stations in a divergent light beam and conformed by the free space to the plurality of user nodes; receive the beam of divergent light and formed the free space; and decoding the encoded data. 53. - The method according to claim 52, characterized in that it further comprises adding to the encoded data a group of addresses of unique user nodes that respectively represent the group of recipient user nodes. 54. - The method according to claim 52, characterized in that it further comprises modulating the encoded data and the group of addresses of unique user nodes in a divergent and shaped beam of light. 55.- A data communication system, characterized in that it comprises: a transmitter configured to send an information signal through the free space and modulated in a beam of coherent, divergent and shaped light, where the coherent light beam is sufficiently divergent to be received by a plurality of spatially separated receivers; and a set of receivers, selected from among the plurality of receivers, configured to receive the coherent, divergent and shaped light beam from the free space 94 and decode the modulated information signal. 56.- The system according to claim 55, characterized in that each receiver in the set of receivers has a unique receiver address and the transmitter is configured to add the unique receiver address to the information signal before transmitting the signal of information to the set of receivers. 57.- The system according to claim 55, characterized in that the transmitter is configured to send the information signal using data packets having a stereophonic broadcasting session identifier with two stations associated with high speed data and a set of select receivers. 58. - The system according to claim 55, characterized in that it further comprises a storage device, coupled to the transmitter, configured to store a stereophonic transmission session identification translation table with two stations for translating first and second session identifiers. Broadcast station with two stations, in unique receiver addresses of first and second sets of receivers, respectively. 59.- Method for communication of optical data in free space, characterized in that it comprises: receiving in 95 an antenna, a beam of divergent and shaped coherent light transmitted through the free space, where the light beam has a modulated information signal , and wherein the cross-sectional area of the divergent coherent light beam received as received at the antenna is substantially greater than an area of the antenna; and demodulating and recovering the information signal from the coherent, divergent and shaped beam of light. The method according to claim 59, characterized in that the information signals comprise at least one video signal, audio signal or data signal. 61.- The method according to claim 59, characterized in that the high-speed information signals comprise at least one video signal at a first data rate, an audio signal at a second data rate or a data signal. at a third data rate. 62.- A data communication system, characterized in that it comprises: a transmission node having at least one generator of radiant energy, generating information containing beams of radiant energy over several sectors, wherein each sub-sector comprises a channel , where each channel operates substantially at the same wavelength. 96 63. - The data communication system according to claim 62, characterized in that the sectors comprise radial sectors. 64.- The data communication system according to claim 62, characterized in that the sectors comprise elevation sectors. The data communication system according to claim 62, characterized in that the sectors comprise radial sectors, wherein each sector includes at least two sub-sectors and wherein the sub-sectors comprise sub-sectors of elevation. 66.- The data communication system according to claim 62, characterized in that the sectors include at least one sector of elliptical shape, sector of hexagonal shape, sector in the shape of donut, sub-sector of elliptical shape, sub-sector of hexagonal shape or sub-sector in the shape of a donut. 67.- The data communication system according to claim 62, characterized in that each channel operates at approximately a wavelength of 1550 nm. 68. - The data communication system according to claim 62, characterized in that a first channel operates at a first wavelength and a second channel operates at a second wavelength. 97. The data communication system according to claim 62, characterized in that the transmission node comprises a telescope. 70.- Method for transmitting data, characterized in that it comprises: modulating at least one information signal in at least one carrier; and substantially simultaneously, transmitting the modulated information signal over a plurality of vertically differentiated sectors. 71.- The method for transmitting data according to claim 70, characterized in that it also comprises, in a substantially simultaneous manner, transmitting the modulated information signal over a plurality of horizontally differentiated sectors. The method for transmitting data according to claim 70, characterized in that it further comprises transmitting a plurality of channel wavelengths on each of the plurality of vertically differentiated sectors. The method for transmitting data according to claim 70, characterized in that at least two of the plurality of vertically differentiated sectors have different beam shapes in cross section. The method for transmitting data according to claim 70, characterized in that each of the plurality of vertically differentiated sectors includes information modulated at the same wavelength. The method for transmitting data according to claim 70, characterized in that the carrier comprises at least a plurality of divergent coherent light beams, transmitted over the plurality of vertically differentiated sectors. 76.- A communication system, characterized in that it comprises: a central node configured to divide a power signal into a plurality of substantially similar output signals; a plurality of transmitters placed at the central node, for transmitting the plurality of output signals to a user node as light signals; and a plurality of receivers placed in the central node, to receive a plurality of user signals from the user node. 77.- The communication system according to claim 76, characterized in that the plurality of user signals comprise light signals. 78. - The communication system according to claim 76, characterized in that the plurality of output signals substantially comprises the same information content as the feed signal. 79. Apparatus, characterized in that it comprises: an amplifier having an input gate to receive a power signal and operable to divide the power signal into a plurality of output signals; a plurality of transmitters for sending the plurality of output signals; and a plurality of receivers associated with the respective plurality of transmitters for receiving user signals. 80.- The apparatus according to claim 79, characterized in that the output signals and the user signals comprise light signals. 81. The apparatus according to claim 79, characterized in that the plurality of output signals comprises substantially the same information content as the input signal. 82.- Method for transmitting and receiving, the method is characterized in that it comprises: dividing a power signal into a plurality of output signals; transmitting the plurality of output signals to a plurality of corresponding receivers of a user node; and receiving a plurality of user signals transmitted from the light signals of the user node. 83. - The method according to claim 82, characterized in that transmitting the plurality of output signals comprises transmitting light signals. 84. - The method according to claim 82, characterized in that it further comprises providing each of the plurality of output signals with an information content substantially equal to the input signal.