Re: questions about light


Here is the problem:

I have multiple signals that are travelling through my device. When the
signals reach a "node" I must "mark" the signals so that I know that
they have passed through that node. Also, in some cases the signals
must be (divided / multiplied) and then sent to other "nodes".

Here are the basic properties that I need:

1. Some kind of signal that has a property that I can change easily.
Also the range for the values of that property must be large enough.

2. The signal must be divided into multiple copies which preserves the
property of the original signal.

3. The signal must travel through some kind of cheap environment that
will not interfere with others (in the case of light I think that optic
fiber is very good). The number of signals that travel through a fiber
can be big enough sometimes (10^4 or even bigger).

4. I need a device that easily divides the signal in multiple (variable
number) of signals having the same property. The "intensity" of the
subsignals can be smaller ... no problem with that. This device must be
able to handle multiple signals in the same time. This means that if I
have 10 signals (having different values for that property that I
watch) that arrive at the same moment in the device I must be able to
change the value of that property for all of them.

5. I also need a device which is able to measure the value of that
property (wave-length, frequency, etc) with a high precision.


I have imagined a simple way to do this: by using light rays which have
different wave-lengths. When the rays are passing through a "node" I
will mark them by increassing their wave-length with a certain value.
And then I divide those rays by using the devices that you have already
suggested.

I don't know too much physics and this is why I needed some answers
from you.

Is there any other way to do this?
Are there other properties of light which I can count on?
Are there other type of fast signals that I can use?

Thanks a lot,
Laura

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