Patent ID: 7298975

Claim:
A digital, fiber optic switching and distribution system, comprising: a first fiber optic concentrated logical ring configured as a physical star communication network to a plurality of signal sources; a first plurality of connection devices coupled to the first fiber optic concentrated logical ring, each of the first plurality of connection devices receiving analog signals from a plurality of signal sources and converting the received analog signals into digital data signals; a first central hub coupled to provide the center of the physical star communication network for the first fiber optic concentrated logical ring and receiving the digital data signals for routing to the first plurality of connection devices; a second fiber optic concentrated logical ring configured as a physical star communication network to a plurality of signal sources; a second plurality of connection devices coupled to the second fiber optic concentrated logical ring, each of the second plurality of connection devices receiving analog signals from a plurality of signal sources and converting the received analog signals into digital data signals; and a second central hub coupled to provide the center of the physical star communication network for the second fiber optic concentrated logical ring and receiving digital data signals for routing to the second plurality of connection devices, the second central hub coupled to the first central hub as a signal fiber optic switching and distribution system; wherein the first and second plurality of connection devices are configured to provide communications among a plurality of signal sources; wherein the first and second central hubs comprise a ring network connecting a plurality of fiber optic network connections coupled to the plurality of connection devices; and wherein the first and second central hubs are configured to communicate the digital data signals to each of the audio connection devices in the ring using synchronous time division multiplex access (TDMA) communications.