Patent ID: 7295777

Claim:
A communication system comprising: a plurality of nodes, each node including an optical switch to controllably route signals from a plurality of in-ports of the optical switch into a plurality of out-ports of the optical switch; a plurality of point-to-point links that interconnect the plurality of nodes into a network, each point-to-point link including a free space optical channel for likewise interconnecting the plurality of nodes, a first free space optical channel coupling to a first node through a receive path and to a second node through a transmit path, the receive path coupling to a respective out-port of the optical switch of the first node, the transmit path coupling to a respective in-port of the optical switch of the second node, further comprising a wireless network control system coupled to each node of the plurality nodes; and a communication hub coupled to the network, the communication hub comprising a plurality of neighborhood links associated with corresponding users in a one-to-one relationship; an optical switch coupled to the plurality of neighborhood links; a trunk coupled to the optical switch; and a wireless network-controlled switch responsive to the wireless network control system to selectably couple the trunk between a free space optical channel link to the communication network and an optical fiber link to the communication network.