CHATSWORTH, Calif. -- MRV COMMUNICATIONS, INC. (Nasdaq: MRVC), a world-class leader in optical components and network infrastructure products and services, has been granted a key Free Space Optics (FSO) industry patent. The patent, "Wireless optical communications without electronics", is the first of its kind with no O-E-O Conversion required. The All-Optical newly patented technology, invented by Drs. David Medved and Leonid Davidovich of MRV, enables a significant reduction in installed system costs by removing all electronics from the roof mounted optical transceivers, and making use of already existing MRV network infrastructure products. The All-Optical technology is protocol independent (SONET, Ethernet/IP, TDM, ATM and Cellular transmission) and provides an easy integration with any existing infrastructure, including twisted pair (DSL), CAT-5, fiber and wireless. FSO equipment commercially available today are generally O-E-O (optical to electrical back to optical) conversion, requiring steps in the process of sending and receiving information through the air and connecting back to the attached networking interface fiber. This feature does not automatically constitute a performance limitation, but O-E-O conversion can impact the ability to scale a FSO system easily to ultra-high bandwidth capabilities. The fiber optic communications industry realized from the start the importance of an all-optical system approach, as higher capacity and lower-cost upgradeability became customer requirements in the broadband access communication networks. Guy Avidan, vice president of MRV International, commented, "Free Space Optics' big advantage is that it is the lowest cost, high-bandwidth data transmission technology available now. This patent will be critical in protecting our lead in FSO as we develop and deploy new lost cost products for FSO-to-the-home(TM)." MRV Communications Inc.