High-throughput, low-latency next generation internet networks using optical tag switching

A method for propagating a data payload from an input network element to an output network element in a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network composed of a plurality of network elements, the data payload having a given format and protocol, the method comprising the steps of

• generating and storing a local look-up table in each of the network elements, each local look-up table determining a local route through the associated one of the network elements,
• adding an optical header to the data payload prior to inputting the data payload to the input network element, the header having a format and protocol and being indicative of the local route through each of the network elements for the data payload and the header, the format and protocol of the data payload being independent of the format and protocol of the header,
• optically determining the header at the network elements as the data payload and header propagate through the WDM network,
• selecting the local route for the data payload and the header through the network elements as determined by looking up the header in the corresponding local look-up table, and
• routing the data payload and the header through the network elements in correspondence to the selected route,
• wherein the optical header includes a tag-switch state for routing the optical header and the data payload through the network elements, and the step of adding an optical header includes the steps of determining and inserting in the optical header an appropriate tag-switch state for routing the optical header and the data payload from the input network element to the output network element through the network elements, and
• wherein the optical header further includes priority data for use in resolving route contentions as the optical header and the data payload propagate through the network elements, the step of generating and storing a local look-up table includes the step of associating a priority level with each tag-switch state, the step of adding the optical header includes the step of inserting in the optical header appropriate priority data for the data payload, and the step of selecting includes the step of determining the local route based upon the priority data and the priority level.

A method for propagating a data payload from an input network element to an output network element in a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network composed of a plurality of network elements, the data payload having a given format and protocol, the method comprising the steps of

• generating and storing a local look-up table in each of the network elements, each local look-up table determining a local route through the associated one of the network elements,
• adding an optical header to the data payload prior to inputting the data payload to the input network element, the header having a format and protocol and being indicative of the local route through each of the network elements for the data payload and the header, the format and protocol of the data payload being independent of the format and protocol of the header,
• optically determining the header at the network elements as the data payload and header propagate through the WDM network,
• selecting the local route for the data payload and the header through the network elements as determined by looking up the header in the corresponding local look-up table, and
• routing the data payload and the header through the network elements in correspondence to the selected route, and
• wherein the optical header and the data payload are initially generated at baseband, and the step of adding the optical header to the data payload further includes the steps of
• frequency shifting the baseband optical header to a frequency band above the frequency band of the baseband data payload,
• combining the frequency-shifted baseband optical header and the baseband data payload to form a composite frequency signal, and
• optically modulating the composite frequency signal using an optical source of a given wavelength to produce an optical signal to propagate the header and the data payload through the WDM network.

A method for propagating a data payload from an input network element to an output network element in a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network composed of a plurality of network elements, the data payload having a given format and protocol, the method comprising the steps of

• generating and storing a local look-up table in each of the network elements, each local look-up table determining a local route through the associated one of the network elements,
• adding an optical header to the data payload prior to inputting the data payload to the input network element, the header having a format and protocol and being indicative of the local route through each of the network elements for the data payload and the header, the format and protocol of the data payload being independent of the format and protocol of the header,
• optically determining the header at the network elements as the data payload and header propagate through the WDM network,
• selecting the local route for the data payload and the header through the network elements as determined by looking up the header in the corresponding local look-up table, and
• routing the data payload and the header through the network elements in correspondence to the selected route,
• wherein the optical header and the data payload are initially generated at baseband, and the step of adding the optical header to the data payload further includes the steps of
• frequency shifting the baseband optical header to a frequency band above the frequency band of the baseband data payload,
• combining the frequency-shifted baseband optical header and the baseband data payload to form a composite frequency signal, and
• optically modulating the composite frequency signal using an optical source of a given wavelength to produce an optical signal to propagate the header and the data payload through the WDM network, and
• wherein the step of optically determining the header at each of the network elements includes the steps of
• photo-detecting the optical header to produce a detected signal,
• locking onto the detected signal with a local locking oscillator to produce a locked signal, and
• mixing the detected signal and the locked signal to produce a baseband signal representative of the header at baseband.

A method for propagating a sequence of data payloads from an input network element to an output network element in a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network composed of a plurality of network elements, each of the data payloads having a given format and protocol, the method comprising the steps of

• generating and storing a local look-up table in each of the network elements, each local look-up table determining a local route through the associated one of the network elements,
• adding an optical header to each of the data payloads and embedded in the same wavelength as the data payloads prior to inputting the data payloads to the input network element, the header having a format and protocol and being indicative of the local route through each of the network elements for each of the data payloads and its corresponding header, the format and protocol of each of the data payloads being independent of the format and protocol of its corresponding header,
• optically determining the header at the network elements as each of the data payloads and its corresponding header propagate through the WDM network,
• selecting the local route for the first of the data payloads and its corresponding header through the network elements as determined by looking up the header in the corresponding local look-up table,
• routing the first of the data payloads and its corresponding header through the network elements in correspondence to the selected route, and
• routing subsequent ones of the data payloads in the sequence through the local route selected for the first of the data payloads.

A method for propagating a data payload arriving at an input network element onto a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network composed of a plurality of network elements, the data payload having a given format and protocol, the method comprising the steps of

• generating an optical header associated with the data payload, the header having a format and protocol and being indicative of a local route through each of the network elements for the data payload and the header, the format and protocol of the data payload being independent of the format and protocol of the header, and
• adding the optical header to the data payload prior to inputting the data payload to the input network element, and
• wherein the optical header and the data payload are initially generated at baseband, and the step of adding the optical header to the data payload further includes the steps of
• frequency shifting the baseband optical header to a frequency band above the frequency band of the baseband data payload,
• combining the frequency-shifted baseband optical header and the baseband data payload to form a composite frequency signal, and
• optically modulating the composite frequency signal using an optical source of a given wavelength to produce an optical signal for propagating the header and the data payload.

A method for transferring a header and a data payload from the input to the output of each particular network element in a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network composed of a plurality of network elements, the data payload having a given format and protocol independent of those of the header, the method comprising the steps of

• generating and storing a local look-up table in the particular network element, the local look-up table determining a local route through the particular network element,
• optically determining the header as the data payload and header arrive at the input to the particular network element,
• selecting the local route for the data payload and the header through the particular network element as determined by looking up the header in the local look-up table, and
• routing the data payload and the header through the particular network element in correspondence to the selected route.

A method for transferring a header and a data payload from the input to the output of each particular network element in a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network composed of a plurality of network elements, the data payload having a given format and protocol independent of those of the header, the method comprising the steps of

• generating and storing a local look-up table in the particular network element, the local look-up table determining a local route through the particular network element,
• optically determining the header as the data payload and header arrive at the input to the particular network element,
• selecting the local route for the data payload and the header through the particular network element as determined by looking up the header in the local look-up table, and
• routing the data payload and the header through the particular network element in correspondence to the selected route, and
• wherein the step of optically determining the header at each of the network elements includes the steps of
• photo-detecting the optical header to produce a detected signal,
• locking onto the detected signal with a local locking oscillator to produce a locked signal, and
• mixing the detected signal and the locked signal to produce a baseband signal representative of the header at baseband.

A system, in combination with (a) an electrical layer;

• and (b) an optical layer composed of a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network including a plurality of network elements, for propagating a data payload generated by a source device in the electrical layer and destined for a destination device in the electrical layer, the data payload having a given format and protocol, the system comprising
• first type of optical header module, coupling the source device and the WDM network, for adding an optical header ahead of the data payload prior to inputting the data payload to the WDM network, the header being indicative of a local route through the network elements for the data payload and the header, the format and protocol of the data payload being independent of those of the header, and
• a second type of optical header module, appended to each of the network elements, including means for storing a local look-up table in a corresponding one of the network elements, each local look-up table determining a routing path through the corresponding one of the network elements, means for optically determining the header at the corresponding one of the network elements as the data payload and header propagate over the WDM network, means for selecting the local route for the data payload and the header through the corresponding one of the network elements as determined by looking up the header in the corresponding local look-up table, and means for routing the data payload and the header through the corresponding one of the network elements in correspondence to the selected route.

An optical header module, in combination with (a) an electrical layer;

• and (b) an optical layer composed of a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network including a plurality of network elements, for propagating a data payload generated by a source device in the electrical layer and destined for a destination device in the electrical layer, the data payload having a given format and protocol, the optical header module, coupling the source device and the WDM network, including means for generating an optical header associated with the data payload, the header having a format and protocol and being indicative of a local route through each of the network elements for the data payload and the header, the format and protocol of the data payload being independent of the format and protocol of the header, and means for adding the optical header to the data payload prior to inputting the data payload to the input network element,
• wherein the means for adding the optical header to the data payload includes means for placing the optical header ahead of the data payload in time, and
• wherein the optical header and the data payload are initially generated at baseband and the means for adding the optical header to the data payload further includes
• means for frequency shifting the baseband optical header to a frequency band above the frequency band of the baseband data payload,
• means for combining the frequency-shifted baseband optical header and the baseband data payload to form a composite frequency signal, and
• means for optically modulating the composite frequency signal to produce an optical signal for propagating the header and the data payload at a given wavelength.

An optical header processor, in combination with (a) an electrical layer;

• and (b) an optical layer composed of a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network including a plurality of network elements, for propagating a data payload generated by a source device in the electrical layer and being destined for a destination device in the electrical layer, the data payload having a given format and protocol, the data payload further having an associated optical header, the optical header processor, associated with each of the network elements, comprising
• means for storing a local look-up table in each corresponding one of the network elements, each local look-up table determining a routing path through the corresponding one of the network elements,
• means for optically determining the header at the corresponding one of the network elements as the data payload and header propagate over the WDM network,
• means for selecting the local route for the data payload and the header through the corresponding one of the network elements as determined by looking up the header in the corresponding local look-up table, and
• means for routing the data payload and the header through the corresponding one of the network elements in correspondence to the selected route.

An optical header processor, in combination with (a) an electrical layer;

• and (b) an optical layer composed of a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network including a plurality of network elements, for propagating a data payload generated by a source device in the electrical layer and being destined for a destination device in the electrical layer, the data payload having a given format and protocol, the data payload further having an associated optical header, the optical header processor, associated with each of the network elements, comprising
• means for storing a local look-up table in each corresponding one of the network elements, each local look-up table determining a routing path through the corresponding one of the network elements,
• means for optically determining the header at the corresponding one of the network elements as the data payload and header propagate over the WDM network,
• means for selecting the local route for the data payload and the header through the corresponding one of the network elements as determined by looking up the header in the corresponding local look-up table, and
• means for routing the data payload and the header through the corresponding one of the network elements in correspondence to the selected route, and
• wherein the means for optically determining the header at each of the network elements includes
• means for photo-detecting the optical header to produce a detected signal,
• a local locking oscillator for locking onto the detected signal to produce a locked signal, and
• means for mixing the detected signal and the locked signal to produce a baseband signal representative of the header at baseband.

A system, in combination with (a) an electrical layer;

• and (b) an optical layer composed of a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network including a plurality of network elements, for propagating a data payload generated by a source device in the electrical layer and being destined for a destination device in the electrical layer, the data payload having a given format and protocol, the network further including a network manager coupled to the network elements for determining circuit-switched routes through the network, with each of the network elements including (i) a switching device, and (ii) a circuit-switched controller, responsive to the network manager, for controlling the switching device based upon inputs from the network manager to established circuit-switched routing paths through the WDM network, the system comprising
• a first type of optical header module, coupling the source device and the WDM network, for adding an optical header ahead of the data payload prior to inputting the data payload to the WDM network, the header being indicative of a local route through the network elements for the data payload and the header, the format and protocol of the data payload being independent of those of the header, and
• a second type of optical header module, responsive to the network manager and the circuit-switched controller and coupled to the switching device, including means for storing a local look-up table in each network element as provided by the network manager, each local look-up table determining a routing path through each network element, means for optically determining the header at each network element as the data payload and header propagate over the WDM network, means for selecting the local route for the data payload and the header through each network element as determined by looking up the header in the corresponding local look-up table, and means for routing the data payload and the header through each network element in correspondence to the selected route by processing inputs from the circuit-switched controller and the local look-up table to control the switching device.

A system, in combination with (a) an electrical layer;

• and (b) an optical layer composed of a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network including a plurality of network elements, for propagating a data payload generated by a source device in the electrical layer and destined for a destination device in the electrical layer, the data payload having a given format and protocol, the system comprising
• a first type of optical header module, coupling the source device and the WDM network, for adding an optical header ahead of the data payload prior to inputting the data payload to the WDM network, the header being indicative of a local route through the network elements for the data payload and the header, the format and protocol of the data payload being independent of that of the header, and
• a second type of optical header module, appended to each of the network elements, including means for storing a local look-up table in a corresponding one of the network elements, each local look-up table determining a routing path through the corresponding one of the network elements, means for optically determining the header at the corresponding one of the network elements as the data payload and header propagate over the WDM network, means for selecting the local route for the data payload and the header through the corresponding one of the network elements as determined by looking up the header in the corresponding local look-up table, means for routing the data payload and the header through the corresponding one of the network elements in correspondence to the selected route, and means for maintaining the selected route for each subsequent consecutive header having the same local route.