Atlanta Fiber System Experiment: The Chicago Lightwave Communications Project

Abstract

The Bell System installed and is evaluating an exploratory lightwave communications system in downtown Chicago. In addition to regular interoffice trunk service, the system provides a range of telecommunications services to customers in Chicago's Brunswick Building, including voice, analog data, digital data, and PICTUREPHONE∗ Meeting Service, a 4-MHz video service. This paper describes the transmission medium, its installation, and the system configuration, and includes some preliminary performance data.