Patent ID: 7386233

Claim:
A ring optical network comprising: at least one optical fiber; an access node; and at least two stations coupled to said optical fiber by optical couplers, both ends of said optical fiber being connected to the access node of said optical network, wherein said access node comprises: at least one optical sender for sending a downlink optical signal having at least a first wavelength dedicated to signals transmitted in a downlink direction into one end of said fiber, at least one optical receiver at the other end of said fiber and receiving an uplink optical signal having at least one second wavelength dedicated to signals transmitted in an uplink direction different from said first, downlink wavelength, and means for providing communication between said optical receiver and said optical sender, and wherein said optical network further comprises medium access control means for allowing a plurality of stations to share at least one uplink wavelength for sending said uplink optical signal having said uplink wavelength in a collision-free manner to said optical receiver.