City of Light: The Story of Fiber Optics

APPENDIX B 273
March 1976: Japan’s Ministry for International Trade and Industry
announces plans for Hi-OVIS fiber-optic ‘‘wired
city’’ experiment involving 150 homes.
Spring 1976: Lifetime of best laboratory lasers at Bell Labs reaches
100,000 hours (10 years) at room temperature.
Summer 1976: Horiguchi and Osanai discover third fiber-optic transmission
window at 1.55 micrometers.
July 1976: Corning sues ITT alleging infringement of American
patents on communication fibers.
Late 1976: J. Jim Hsieh makes indium-gallium arsenidephosphide
(InGaAsP) lasers emitting continuously
at 1.25 micrometers.
Spring 1977: F. F. Roberts reaches mandatory retirement age of 60;
John Midwinter becomes head of fiber-optic group
at British Post Office.
April 1, 1977: AT&T sends first test signals through field test system
in Chicago’s Loop district.
April 22, 1977: General Telephone and Electronics sends first live
telephone traffic through fiber optics (6 million bits
per second) in Long Beach, Calif.
May 1977: Bell System starts sending live telephone traffic
through fibers at 45 million bits per second fiber
link in downtown Chicago.
June 1977: British Post Office begins sending live telephone traffic
through fibers in underground ducts near Martlesham
Heath.
June 29, 1977: Bell Labs announces one million hour (100 year) extrapolated
lifetime for diode lasers.
Summer 1977: F. F. Roberts dies of heart attack.
October 1977: Valtec ‘‘acquires’’ Comm/Scope, but Comm/Scope
owners soon gain control of Valtec.
Late 1977: AT&T and other telephone companies settle on 850nanometer
gallium arsenide light sources and
graded-index fibers for commercial systems operating
at 45 million bits per second.
1977–1978: Low loss at long wavelengths renews research interest
in single-mode fiber.
May 22–23, 1978: Fiber Optic Con, first fiber-optic trade show.
July 1978: Optical fibers begin carrying signals to homes in Japan’s
Hi-OVIS project.
August 1978: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone transmits 32 million
bits per second through a record 53 kilometers
of graded-index fiber at 1.3 micrometers.
September 1978: Richard Epworth reports modal noise problems in
graded-index fibers.