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US 9,002,196 B2Granted
Self-healing repeater node
AssigneeVerizon Patent and Licensing Inc.
InventorsGlenn A. Wellbrock, Tiejun J. Xia
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A device may include a component, a first switch, a repeater, and a second switch. The component may configure optical paths between ports. The component may comprise a first pair of optical ports connected to a first pair of optical fibers, and a second pair of optical ports connected to a second pair of optical fibers. The first switch may be configured to output one of two optical signals received by the first pair of optical ports from the first pair of optical fibers. The repeater may reshape or amplify the outputted optical signal. The second switch may be configured to direct the reshaped or amplified signal to one of the second pair of optical ports.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- providing, in an optical node in an optical network, a test configuration for routing a test signal, transmitted from a test component of the optical node, over a primary optical fiber;
- performing, using the test signal and the test configuration, testing associated with an optical path through the optical node, to identify one or more faults associated with the optical path;
- sending, via an optical service channel carried on the primary optical fiber, one or more messages including information regarding the identified one or more faults to a remote device in the optical network;
- receiving, responsive to the one or more messages and via the optical service channel, one or more instructions issued from the remote device to address the identified one or more faults;
- and
- addressing, using one or more components of the optical node, the identified one or more faults based on the one or more instructions, wherein when the identified one or more faults comprise a break detected in the primary optical fiber in a portion of the optical path, the addressing comprises reconfiguring one or more 1×2 optical switches in an optical amplifier module in the optical path to reroute an optical signal over a backup optical fiber in lieu of the primary optical fiber.
3 more elements
A system comprising:
- an optical node including logic and one or more processors to execute the logic to:
- provide a test configuration for routing a test signal, transmitted from a test component of the optical node, over a primary optical fiber;
- perform, using the test signal and the test configuration, testing associated with an optical path through the optical node, to identify one or more faults associated with the optical path;
- send, via an optical service channel carried on the primary optical fiber, one or more messages including information regarding the identified one or more faults to a remote device in an optical network;
- receive, responsive to the one or more messages and via the optical service channel, one or more instructions issued from the remote device to address the identified one or more faults;
- and
- address, using one or more components of the optical node, the identified one or more faults based on the one or more instructions, wherein when the identified one or more faults comprise a break detected in the primary optical fiber in a portion of the optical path, the one or more processors further execute the logic to reconfigure one or more 1×2 optical switches in an optical amplifier module in the optical path to reroute optical communications over a backup optical fiber in lieu of the primary optical fiber.
4 more elements
An optical device comprising:
- a primary optical fiber to conduct at least one of input optical data received from an optical network or output optical data outputted to the optical network;
- an optical amplifier module to amplify the input optical data;
- and
- one or more processors configured to:
- provide a test configuration for routing a test signal, transmitted from a test component of the optical device, over the primary optical fiber;
- perform, using the test signal and the test configuration, testing associated with an optical path through the optical device, to identify one or more faults associated with the optical path;
- send, via an optical service channel carried on the primary optical fiber, one or more messages including information regarding the identified one or more faults to a remote device via the optical network;
- receive, responsive to the one or more messages and via the optical service channel, one or more instructions issued from the remote device to address the identified one or more faults;
- and
- address, using one or more components of the optical device, the identified one or more faults based on the one or more instructions, wherein when the identified one or more faults comprise a break detected in the primary optical fiber in a portion of the optical path, the one or more processors are further configured to reconfigure one or more 1×2 optical switches in the optical amplifier module to reroute an optical signal over a backup optical fiber in the optical device, in lieu of the primary optical fiber.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.