MuxMaster is a 10-bit wide, fully duplex parallel link. Each channel can transmit at 200 Megabit/sec over a range of up to 50 km. The novel feature of MuxMaster is that all 20 channels share a single fibre by the use of Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM).
A MuxMaster unit consists of a set of 10 Input-Output Cards (IOCs) which interface the unit to the electrical domain. The IOCs are dedicated to the electrical protocol chosen. The IOCs are connected to 10 Laser Receiver Cards (LRCs) which are tuned to transmit and receive light at different wavelengths 1 nm apart. In this way, odd-numbered channels go in one direction and even-numbered channels go in the other direction. A grating is used to couple the light into a single-mode optical fibre (multiplexing) and to select the appropriate wavelength for each LRC from incoming light (demultiplexing).
Marcy Holle, IBM Research Division, Thomas J. Watson Centre, P.O. Box 218, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598, USA.
Prepared by: Owen Boyle
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