Method and system for managing optical distribution network

A method comprising:

• maintaining a photonic network model, the network model being based on purely photonic elements that require no electrical-to-optical or optical-to-electrical conversion between a network input port for a whole optical beam and at least one network output port for said whole optical beam, wherein the photonic network model stores:
• a) relationship information that describes the relationships between a plurality of network elements in the photonic network;
• and
• b) configuration information that describes the current state of each of the plurality of network elements;
• receiving a path generation request that includes a first port identifier and a second port identifier, wherein the first port identifier represents an input port and the second port identifier represents a first output port;
• based at least in part on the relationship information and the configuration information, generating candidate paths that begin at the input port and end at at least the first output port;
• and
• determining possible routes for the candidate paths for the whole optical beam without regard to wavelength;
• wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices.

A system comprising:

• at least one digital computing device for storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the instructions to perform:
• maintaining a photonic network model, the network model being based on purely photonic elements that require no electrical-to-optical or optical-to-electrical conversion between a network input port for a whole optical beam and at least one network output port for said optical beam, wherein the photonic network model stores:
• a) relationship information that describes the relationships between a plurality of network elements in the photonic network;
• and
• b) configuration information that describes the current state of each of the plurality of network elements;
• receiving a path generation request that includes a first port identifier and a second port identifier, wherein the first port identifier represents an input port and the second port identifier represents a first output port;
• based at least in part on the relationship information and the configuration information, generating candidate paths that begin at the input port and end at at least the first output port;
• and
• determining possible routes for the candidate paths for the whole optical beam without regard to wavelength.

A system for controlling a purely photonic network comprising:

• at least one digital computing device configured for:
• storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the instructions to control a photonic network, the photonic network comprising purely photonic elements that require no electrical-to-optical or optical-to-electrical conversion between a network input port and a network output port without regard to wavelength, wherein the digital computing device stores:
• a) relationship information that describes the relationships between a plurality of network elements in the photonic network;
• and
• b) configuration information that describes the current state of each of the plurality of network elements;
• receiving a path generation request that includes a first port identifier and a second port identifier, wherein the first port identifier represents an input port and the second port identifier represents a first output port;
• and
• based at least in part on the relationship information and the configuration information, generating candidate paths without regard to wavelength that begin at the input port and end at at least the first output port.