Method of sending packet-formed information optically using different wave-lengths for address and useful information

• US 20030108352A1
• Filed: 12/09/2002
• Published: 06/12/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Schofield Technologies LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Schofield Technologies LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Hellman, Esko
• Granted Patent: US 7,596,316 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 398/47
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0227 Operation, administration, maintenance or provisioning [OAMP] of WDM networks, e.g. media access, routing or wavelength allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0246 using one wavelength per ONU
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/025 using one wavelength per ONU, e.g. for transmissions from-ONU-to-OLT or from-ONU-to-ONU
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0283 WDM ring architectures
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0066 Provisions for optical burst or packet networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2011/0041 Optical control
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2011/0069 using dedicated optical channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2011/0073 Provisions for forwarding or routing, e.g. lookup tables

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and a system for the transferring of packet-switched information in a telecommunication system which comprises a router (R) to which an optical cable (LC) is connected that consists of optical fibres (LF) to which two wavelengths of light are sent and which is connected to the telecommunication network (CN), in which method, at the router (R), the piece of address information is received from the address wavelength (AWL) of the optical fibre (LF); and the payload information is received at the router (R) from the payload wavelength (DWL) of the optical fibre (LF). In the method, the payload wavelength (DWL) is routed based on the received piece of address information.

Claims

1. A method of transferring packet-switched information in an optical fibre system comprising:

an optical fibre (LF) to which at least two wavelengths of light are sent, in which method;

transmitting address information; and

transmitting payload information after the address information,

characterised in that the method comprises the step of;

transmitting the address information on a diffefent wavelength than the payload information; and

routing the payload wavelength (DWL) of the aforementioned optical fibre (LF) based on the address wavelength.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, characterised in that on the address wavelength (AWL), only the addresses to be used in the aforementioned optical fibre (LF) are transmitted.

3. A method as defined in claim 1 or 2, characterised in that on the address wavelength (AWL), the identifier of the payload wavelength (DWL) connected with the address is transmitted.

4. A method as defined in claim 1, 2 or 3, characterised in that packet-switched information is being transmitted in the aforementioned optical fibre (LF) by means of the wavelength division multiplexing (WDM).

5. A method as defined in claim 1, 2, 3, or 4, characterised in that information is being routed on an optical transmission network level.

6. A method as defined in claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, characterised in that a guard time is added before the address information, in which case the transfer of different wavelengths at different times is being levelled out.

7. A method as defined in claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, characterised in that a guard time is added after the address information before the payload information, in which case the transfer of different wavelengths at different times is being levelled out.

8. A method as defined in claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7, characterised in that a guard time is added after the payload information, in which case the transfer of different wavelengths at different times is being levelled out.

9. A method as defined in claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8, characterised in that as the piece of packet-switched information, the piece of information in accordance with the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) is used.

10. A method as defined in claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9, characterised in that as the piece of packet-switched information, the piece of information in accordance with the Internet protocol (IP) is used.

11. A method as defined in claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10, characterised in that from the optical fibre, one or more wavelengths are reserved for the payload information for the transfer of packet-switched information.

12. A method as defined in claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or 11, characterised in that colour codes are used as packet addresses in the aforementioned optical fibre (LF) on the address wavelength, and the colour code is extinguished in conjunction with the routing, when the piece of address information has been picked up.

13. A method of transferring packet-switched information in a telecommunication system comprising:

a telecommunication network (CN);

an optical cable (LC) which is connected to the telecommunication network (CN);

an optical fibre (LF) to which at least two wavelengths of light are sent and which belongs to the optical cable (LC); and

a router (R) which is connected to the optical cable (LC), in which method;

packet-formed information is being received that includes the piece of address information and the piece of payload information;

transmitting the address information; and

transmitting the payload information after the address information,

characterised in that the method comprises the steps of;

transmitting the address information on a diffefent wavelength than the payload information;

receiving at the aforementioned router (R) the piece of address information of the piece of packet-formed information from the address wavelength (AWL) of the aforementioned optical fibre (LF);

receiving at the aforementioned router (R) the piece of payload information of the piece of packet-formed information from the payload wavelength (DWL) of the aforementioned optical fibre (LF); and

routing the payload wavelength (DWL) of the aforementioned optical fibre (LF) of the aforementioned router (R) based on the address wavelength (AWL).

14. A method as defined in claim 13, characterised in that on the address wavelength (AWL), only the addresses to be used in the aforementioned optical cable (LC) are transmitted.

15. A method as defined in claim 14 or 14, characterised in that on the address wavelength (AWL), the identifier of the payload wavelength (DWL) connected with the address is transmitted.

16. A method as defined in claim 13, 14 or 15, characterised in that information is being transferred in the aforementioned optical fibre (LF) by means of the wavelength division multiplexing (WDM).

17. A method as defined in claim 13, 14, 15 or 16, characterised in that information is being routed on an optical transmission network level.

18. A method as defined in claim 13, 14, 15, 16 or 17, characterised in that a guard time is added before the address information, in which case the transfer of different wavelengths at different times is being levelled out.

19. A method as defined in claim 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 or 18, characterised in that a guard time is added after the address information before the payload information, in which case the transfer of different wavelengths at different times is being levelled out.

20. A method as defined in claim 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 or 19, characterised in that a guard time is added after the payload information, in which case the transfer of different wavelengths at different times is being levelled out.

21. A method as defined in claim 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 or 20, characterised in that as the piece of packet-switched information, the piece of information in accordance with the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) is used.

22. A method as defined in claim 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 or 21, characterised in that as the piece of packet-switched information, the piece of information in accordance with the Internet protocol (IP) is used.

23. A method as defined in claim 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 or 22, characterised in that one or more wavelengths are reserved for the transfer of packet-switched information.

24. A method as defined in claim 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 or 23, characterised in that colour codes are used as packet addresses, and the colour code is extinguished in conjunction with the routing, when the address has been picked up.

25. A system for the transfer of packet-switched information in an optical fibre system comprising:

an optical fibre (LF) to which at least two wavelengths of light are sent, in which system;

transmitting address information; and

transmitting payload information after the address information,

characterised in that the address information is transmitted on a diffefent wavelength than the payload information, wherein the system further comprises;

a routing device (RU) which routes the payload information to be transferred on the payload wavelength (DWL) based on the address information to be transferred on the address wavelength (AWL).

26. A system as defined in claim 25, characterised in that the router further comprises:

a response time counter (TU) which is used to wait a guard time of a standard form.

27. A system as defined in claim 25 or 26, characterised in that the router further comprises:

a multiplexing device (MUX) which transfers several wavelengths by means of the aforementioned optical fibre (LF).

28. A system as defined in claim 25, 26 or 27, characterised in that the router further comprises:

a mirror device (MU) which is used to control the proceeding of the payload wavelength (DWL) of the aforementioned optical fibre (LF) in the aforementioned router (R) based on the address information to be transmitted on the address wavelength (AWL).

29. A system as defined in claim 25, 26, 27 or 28, characterised in that the router further comprises:

a filter device (FU) which is used to control the proceeding of the payload wavelength (DWL) of the aforementioned optical fibre (LF) in the aforementioned router (R) based on the address information to be transmitted on the address wavelength (AWL).

30. A system as defined in claim 25, 26, 27, 28 or 29, characterised in that the router further comprises:

an extinguisher (FU) which is used to extinguish the aforementioned address wavelength (AWL), when the address has been picked up.

31. A system for the transfer of packet-switched information in a telecommunication system comprising:

a telecommunication network (CN);

an optical cable (LC) which is connected to the telecommunication network (CN);

an optical fibre (LF) to which at least two wavelengths of light are sent and which belongs to the optical cable (LC); and

a router (R) which is connected to the optical cable (LC), in which method;

packet-formed information is being received that includes the piece of address information and the piece of payload information;

transmitting the address information; and

transmitting the payload information after the address information,

characterised in that the address information is transmitted on a diffefent wavelength than the payload information, wherein the system further comprises;

a modulating device (MODU) that changes the packet-switched information to the address wavelength (AWL) and to the payload wavelength (DWL);

a demodulating device (DMODU) that changes the information from the address wavelength (AWL) and the payload wavelength (DWL) into a packet-switched form; and

a routing device (RU) which routes the payload information to be transferred on the payload wavelength (DWL) based on the address information to be transferred on the address wavelength (AWL).

32. A system as defined in claim 31, characterised in that the router further comprises:

a response time counter (TU) which is used to wait a guard time of a standard form.

33. A system as defined in claim 31 or 32, characterised in that the router further comprises:

a multiplexing device (MUX) which transfers several wavelengths by means of the aforementioned optical fibre (LC).

34. A system as defined in claim 31, 32 or 33, characterised in that the router further comprises:

a mirror device (MU) which is used to control the proceeding of the payload wavelength (DWL) of the aforementioned optical fibre (LF) in the aforementioned router (R) based on the address information to be transmitted on the address wavelength (AWL).

35. A system as defined in claim 31, 32, 33 or 34, characterised in that the router further comprises:

a filter device (FU) which is used to control the proceeding of the payload wavelength (DWL) of the aforementioned optical fibre (LF) in the aforementioned router (R) based on the address information to be transmitted on the address wavelength (AWL).

36. A system as defined in claim 31, 32, 33, 34 or 35, characterised in that the router further comprises:

an extinguisher (DU) which is used to extinguish the wavelength (AWL), when the address has been picked up.