Dual-wave optical shared protection ring
AssigneeNetwork Photonics, Inc.
InventorsRonald A. Wahler, Edward J. Bortolini
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An optical ring is provided for propagating optical signal pairs over wavelength connections between nodes. Each optical signal pair includes two signals at different wavelengths. At one or more of the nodes, one signal of the pair acts as a transmit signal and the other acts as a receive signal. If a failure is detected the optical signal pair is redirected over a protection path without changing the wavelengths of the transmit and receive signals. This may be achieved by reversing a propagation direction for each of the signals comprised by the redirected optical signal pair.
Claims34
A method for operating an optical ring, the optical ring including a plurality of nodes, the method comprising:
- propagating a plurality of optical signal pairs over a plurality of wavelength connections between the nodes, wherein each such optical signal pair includes a first signal having a first wavelength λa and a second signal having a second wavelength λb that differs from λa, and wherein at at least one of the plurality of nodes the first signal acts as a transmit signal and the second signal acts as a receive signal;
- and
- redirecting at least one of the optical signal pairs over a protection path in response to a failure in the optical ring, wherein the protection path propagates signals with respect to the at least one of the plurality of nodes without changing the wavelengths of the transmit and receive signals.
An optical ring comprising:
- a plurality of nodes, with a network element disposed at each such node;
- a plurality of optical wavelength connections between the nodes configured for the propagation of optical signals;
- and
- a controller coupled with the plurality of nodes, wherein the controller is configured to propagate a plurality of optical signal pairs, each such optical signal pair including a first signal having a first wavelength λa and a second signal having a second wavelength λb that differs from λa, such that at at least one of the plurality of nodes the first signal acts as a transmit signal and the second signal acts as a receive signal, and to respond to a failure in the optical ring by redirecting at least one of the optical signal pairs over a protection path without changing the wavelengths of the transmit and receive signals.
A system for operating a wavelength division multiplexing network comprising an optical ring of nodes interconnected by a plurality of wavelength connections, the system comprising:
- a manager configured to select pairs of wavelengths from a set of N discrete wavelengths ordered sequentially by wavelength from λ1 to λN, the pairs of wavelengths defining a plurality of optical signal pairs comprising a first signal having a first wavelength λa and a second signal having a second wavelength λb that differs from λa;
- and
- a controller coupled with the manager and the optical ring, wherein the controller is configured to propagate at least one of the plurality of optical signal pairs along a normal traffic path within the optical ring such that at at least one of the nodes the first signal acts as a transmit signal and the second signal acts as a receive signal and to redirect the at least one of the optical signal pairs over a protection traffic path in response to a failure in the optical ring without changing the wavelengths of the transmit and receive signals.
A system for operating a wavelength division multiplexing network comprising an optical ring of nodes interconnected by a plurality of wavelength connections, the system comprising:
- means for selecting pairs of wavelengths from a set of N discrete wavelengths ordered sequentially by wavelength from λ1 to λN, the pairs of wavelengths defining a plurality of optical signal pairs comprising a first signal having a first wavelength λa and a second signal having a second wavelength λb that differs from λa;
- means for propagating at least one of the plurality of optical signal pairs along a normal traffic path within the optical ring such that at at least one of the nodes the first signal acts as a transmit signal and the second signal acts as a receive signal;
- and
- means for redirecting the at least one of the optical signal pairs over a protection traffic path in response to a failure in the optical ring without changing the wavelengths of the transmit and receive signals.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.