High capacity ring communication network

A communication network, comprising:

• at least two communication rings in an asymmetric layout, exactly one of which communication rings is an anchor ring, each communication ring comprising two unidirectional ringlets oriented in mutually-opposite directions;
• and
• a plurality of ring nodes connected by the communication rings,
• wherein the asymmetric layout is such that not all the nodes of the plurality of ring nodes are connected to all the communication rings,
• wherein the anchor ring is the only communication ring of the communication network connected to all the nodes of the plurality of ring nodes,
• wherein at least two ring nodes of the plurality of ring nodes are each connected to at least two of the communication rings,
• wherein at least two ring nodes of the plurality of ring nodes are each connected to at least two of the communication rings, and
• wherein each individual ring node of the plurality of ring nodes is arranged to:
• accept a data packet comprising one or more header fields,
• determine an egress ring node to which the data packet is to be forwarded,
• identify a subset of the communication rings comprising one or more common communication rings that are connected to both the individual ring node and the egress ring node,
• select, responsively to a respective value of at least one of the header fields of the packet, a ringlet of a communication ring among the one or more common communication rings, and
• forward the data packet to the egress ring node over the selected ringlet.