GEC Plc’s Marconi Defence Systems claims to have produced Europe’s first ultra wideband fibre-optic microwave link at its Electro-Optics Division in Stanmore, Middlesex. The company says it has a 2.20GHz optical fibre-optic transmission line a thousand yards long with a bandwidth capability equivalent to 6m simultaneous telephone conversations. Marconi also claims many optical carriers can be multiplexed down the same fibre, with good isolation, using slightly different wavelengths; the company says the system’s band width makes it suitable for signalling to and from antennas, and data transmission in direct broadcast from satellite or high-definition television.
