Patent ID: 7006767

Claim:
A WDM fiber optical ring network for communicating information in a metro access area using one or more wavelengths, which can be shared by a plurality of user terminals, comprising: a fiber optical feeder ring; at least one fiber optical distribution ring; a network node (NN) for providing an only optical carrier signal transmitted across said optical feeder ring and said at least one fiber optical distribution ring; at least one access node (AN) for permitting only selected wavelengths of said optical carrier signals to be transmitted along said at least one fiber optical distribution ring, said network node and said at least one access node connected via said fiber optical feeder ring; and at least one end station (ES) connected via said fiber optical distribution ring to said at least one access node, wherein a user terminal in said plurality of user terminals is attached to said at least one end station; wherein information comprises: downstream data packets; optical chalkboard packets consisting of a recognizable pattern; and control signals.