Efficiently interconnecting a plurality of computing nodes to form a circuit-switched network

A system for interconnecting a plurality of computing nodes, comprising:

• a plurality of node optical transceivers that are electrically coupled to at least some of the plurality of computing nodes;
• and
• a switch that is optically coupled to the plurality of node optical transceivers, the switch comprising:
• a plurality of optical circuit switches;
• a plurality of electrical circuit switches;
• a first network stage comprising a first plurality of circuit switches selected from among the plurality of optical circuit switches and the plurality of electrical circuit switches, wherein each computing node among the plurality of computing nodes is optically coupled to at least one of the first plurality of circuit switches;
• and
• a second network stage comprising a second plurality of circuit switches selected from among the plurality of optical circuit switches and the plurality of electrical circuit switches, wherein each circuit switch among the first plurality of circuit switches is optically coupled to each circuit switch among the second plurality of circuit switches.

A system for interconnecting a plurality of computing nodes to form a circuit-switched network, comprising:

• a first plurality of optical circuit switches that form a first stage of the circuit-switched network, wherein each computing node among the plurality of computing nodes is optically coupled to an optical circuit switch among the first plurality of optical circuit switches;
• a second plurality of optical circuit switches that form a second stage of the circuit-switched network, wherein each optical circuit switch among the second plurality of optical circuit switches is optically coupled to each optical circuit switch among the first plurality of optical circuit switches;
• and
• a plurality of wavelength converters that couple the first plurality of optical circuit switches to the second plurality of optical circuit switches, each wavelength converter being configured to convert an input optical signal to an output optical signal having a desired wavelength.