Abstract: A method of forming a printer tip on a metal printer hammer spring by providing a printer tip from a range of materials from the group consisting of sintered tungsten carbide, cemented tungsten carbide, composite ceramics, metallic materials, noble metals, metal carbides, borides, nitrides and alloys and mixtures thereof. The printer tip is pressed against the hammerspring while electrically softening the printer hammerspring through a voltage established by an electrode contacting the printer tip. A plating or coating of the printer tip beforehand can be undertaken with a conductive metallic material disposed on the surface of the printer tip. The printer tip is fused to the hammerspring and a milling of a desired form to the printer tip and hammerspring by an electrode discharge milling process can take place thereafter.

Abstract: Techniques for providing normal operation and service restoration capability in the event of failure of terminal equipment or transmission media in a heterogeneous network, such as a hybrid network containing single- and multi-wavelength lightwave communications systems. An optical switching node (OSN) is placed at each node in the ring network to provide the required connections between various fibers and terminal equipment, but having switch states that allow signals on the protection fibers to bypass the terminal equipment at that node. Ring-switched signals propagate around the ring on protection fibers without encountering the terminal equipment at the intervening nodes. To the extent that the protection fiber links between any given pair of nodes are incapable of supporting all the relevant communication regimes, such links are modified to provide such support.

Abstract: Techniques for providing normal operation and service restoration capability in the event of failure of terminal equipment or transmission media in a heterogeneous network, such as a hybrid network containing single- and multi-wavelength lightwave communications systems. An optical switching node (OSN) is placed at each node in the ring network to provide the required connections between various fibers and terminal equipment, but having switch states that allow signals on the protection fibers to bypass the terminal equipment at that node. Ring-switched signals propagate around the ring on protection fibers without encountering the terminal equipment at the intervening nodes. To the extent that the protection fiber links between any given pair of nodes are incapable of supporting all the relevant communication regimes, such links are modified to provide such support.

Abstract: Techniques for providing normal operation and service restoration capability in the event of failure of terminal equipment or transmission media in a heterogeneous network, such as a hybrid network containing single- and multi-wavelength lightwave communications systems.