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As high speed data communication networks are applied to automotive electronic systems, the advantages offered by fiber optics become very attractive to system designers and vehicle manufacturers. Designing fiber optic networks is a new experience for most automotive system designers. Components such as passive stars, optical connectors, optical fiber, LEDs, and photo detectors must be considered. New parameters such as optical attenuation, optical power, flux budget, loss budget, and insertion loss must become as familiar as their electrical counterparts. Integrating all the individual fiber optic components into a network requires an understanding of component parameters and how the components interrelate. The responsibility of the automotive system designer is to assure that the complete system impact of a specific component or parameter is considered in the network design.