Apparatus for connecting multiple passive stars in a fiber optic network

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, apparatus for use in a fiber optic network which includes first an second passive stars and means providing a bidirectional signal transmission path between each of the passive stars and the apparatus is disclosed.
The apparatus comprises in combination first means adapted for storing a value representing the round trip signal delay time between the apparatus and each of the passive stars, second means adapted to receive a signal from each of the passive stars, third means adapted to transmit the signal to each of the passive stars, fourth means coupled to the second and third means and adapted to respond to a signal received from one of the passive stars for blocking transmission of a signal back to that passive star during the time duration that the signal is being received from the one passive star, and fifth means coupled to the first means and the second means and adapted to block receipt of a signal from the other of the passive stars for a time which is a function of the duration of the received signal plus the time of the round trip signal delay stored in the first means.