Patent ID: 9712274
Date: 2017-07-18
CPC Classifications: H04B,H04J

Claim:
1. An optical communication system comprising: first and second cable landing stations coupled to a trunk path in an optical cable; at least one hub-node, each of the hub-nodes being coupled to the trunk path through an associated hub-node branching unit; at least one mid-node, each of the mid-nodes being coupled to at least one of the hub-nodes through an associated mid-node branching unit and an associated mid-node path in the optical cable, the mid-node path not including the trunk path whereby mid-node signals may be communicated between each of the mid-nodes and the at least one of the hub-nodes coupled thereto without being provided on the trunk path; and at least one sub-node, each of the sub-nodes being coupled to at least one of the mid-nodes through an associated sub-node branching unit and an associated sub-node path in the optical cable, the sub-node path not including the trunk or mid-node path, whereby sub-node signals may be communicated between each of the sub-nodes and the at least one of the mid-nodes coupled thereto without being provided on the trunk or mid-node path.