Quality of service in an optical network
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- providing quality of service in a wavelength division multiplexing optical network that supports a plurality of bit rates by,determining cumulative noise and cumulative chromatic dispersion for each available path as a whole, wherein an available path is a series of two or more nodes each connected by an optical link on which a set of wavelengths is available for establishing a lightpath; and
distinguishing different grades of path quality based on bit error rate (BER), where BER is based on cumulative noise and bit rate; and
requiring a minimum path quality based on chromatic dispersion decibel penalty, where chromatic dispersion decibel penalty is based on cumulative chromatic dispersion and bit rate.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for implementing optical network quality using bit error rate and chromatic dispersion. According to one embodiment of the invention, a method includes the provision of quality of service in a wavelength division multiplexing optical network that supports a plurality of bit rates. As part of this method, the cumulative noise and cumulative chromatic dispersion for each available path as a whole is determined, where an available path is a series of two or more nodes each connected by an optical link on which a set of wavelengths is available for establishing a lightpath. In addition, different grades of path quality are distinguished based on bit error rate (BER), where BER is based on cumulative noise and bit rate. Furthermore, a minimum path quality is required based on chromatic dispersion decibel penalty, where chromatic dispersion decibel penalty is based on cumulative chromatic dispersion and bit rate.
93 Citations
53 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
providing quality of service in a wavelength division multiplexing optical network that supports a plurality of bit rates by, determining cumulative noise and cumulative chromatic dispersion for each available path as a whole, wherein an available path is a series of two or more nodes each connected by an optical link on which a set of wavelengths is available for establishing a lightpath; and distinguishing different grades of path quality based on bit error rate (BER), where BER is based on cumulative noise and bit rate; and requiring a minimum path quality based on chromatic dispersion decibel penalty, where chromatic dispersion decibel penalty is based on cumulative chromatic dispersion and bit rate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method for performing a path based quality check for a specified bit rate in a wavelength division multiplexing optical network comprising:
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selecting from a database, which stores a representation of available paths from an access node of the optical network to other access nodes of the optical network, one of the available paths as a currently selected path, wherein said database also stores a representation of wavelengths available on each of the available paths, and wherein an available path is a series of two or more nodes each connected by an optical link on which a set of wavelengths is available for establishing a lightpath; determining cumulative noise for the currently selected path; determining a maximum allowable noise for the specified bit rate; determining cumulative chromatic dispersion of the currently selected path; determining a maximum allowable chromatic dispersion for the specified bit rate; determining whether the currently selected path passes the path based quality check based on whether the cumulative noise for the currently selected path is less than the maximum allowable noise at the specific bit rate and whether the chromatic dispersion is less than the maximum allowable chromatic dispersion at the specified bit rate. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An apparatus comprising:
an access node, to be coupled in a wavelength division multiplexing optical network, including, a database to store a representation of the available paths from itself to other nodes, the wavelengths of those available paths, and the cumulative noise and cumulative chromatic dispersion of those available paths; and a set of one or more tables that correlate bit error rates (BERs) and a plurality of bit rates to maximum allowable noise levels and that correlate a chromatic dispersion decibel penalty and the plurality of bit rates to maximum allowable chromatic dispersion levels; and a path based quality check module to determine, based on a currently required one of the BERs and a currently required one of the bit rates, whether the cumulative noise and cumulative chromatic dispersion of a currently selected one of the available paths in said database meet the maximum allowable noise level and the maximum chromatic dispersion level, respectively. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. An apparatus comprising:
a wavelength division multiplexing optical network including a plurality of access nodes that each include, a database to store a representation of the available paths from itself to other nodes, the wavelengths of those available paths, and the cumulative noise and cumulative chromatic dispersion of those available paths; and a set of one or more modules to, communicate with others of said plurality of access nodes to build and maintain said database; distinguish different grades of path quality based on bit error rate (BER), where BER is based on cumulative noise and bit rate; and require a minimum path quality based on chromatic dispersion decibel penalty, where chromatic dispersion decibel penalty is based on cumulative chromatic dispersion and bit rate. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. An apparatus comprising:
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a wavelength division multiplexing optical network including a plurality of access nodes that each generate and transmit to adjacent nodes connectivity request messages to determine available paths having that access node as a source node and to determine a value for each of a set of one or more path based attributes of those paths, wherein an available path is a series of two or more nodes each connected by an optical link on which a set of wavelengths is available for establishing a lightpath, and wherein each path based attribute is an attribute of that path as a whole, as opposed to attributes of its individual links and nodes, that is used in determining quality of the path; and each of said plurality of access nodes, responsive to each received connectivity request message, determine any adjacent nodes that may be added to the path that the connectivity request message has already traveled to discover other longer available paths having the originating access node as the source node, determine a value for each of the set of path based attributes for each such longer available path, transmit messages carrying these determinations for incorporation into a network database, and propagate an updated version of said connectivity request message to any adjacent nodes that may be able to determine other longer available paths having the originating access node as the source node. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. An apparatus comprising:
an access node, to be coupled in a wavelength division multiplexing optical network, including, a set of modules to propagate through optical network connectivity request messages, initiated at each of the access nodes in said optical network, to discover available paths having the originating access node as a source node and to determine a value for each of a set of one or more path based attributes of those paths, wherein an available path is a series of two or more nodes each connected by an optical link on which a set of wavelengths is available for establishing a lightpath, and wherein each path based attribute is an attribute of that path as a whole, as opposed to attributes of its individual links and nodes, that is used in determining quality of the path; and a database, to be populated responsive to receiving response messages carrying determinations of available paths having the access node as the source node and those path'"'"'s set of path based attributes, to store the available paths and their values for the set of path based attributes. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method comprising:
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transmitting to each adjacent node of an access node of a wavelength division multiplexing optical network a connectivity request message to be propagated to determine available paths having said access node as a source node and to determine a value for each of a set of one or more path based attributes of those paths, wherein an available path is a series of two or more nodes each connected by an optical link on which a set of wavelengths is available for establishing a lightpath, and; receiving responsive connectivity messages that identify the available paths that the propagated connectivity request messages have determined, a path channel set for each collected available path identifying the available wavelengths, and the value for each of a set of one or more path based attributes for each collected available path, wherein each path based attribute is an attribute of that path as a whole as opposed to attributes of its individual links and nodes, wherein the series of nodes of at least some of the collected available paths include three or more nodes; building a network database based on said responsive connectivity messages; and performing a path based quality check on at least one of the collected available paths based on the set of path based attributes. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. An apparatus comprising:
an access node, to be coupled in a wavelength division multiplexing optical network, including, a routing database organized by the destination nodes of the available paths from the access node to other access nodes in said wavelength division multiplexing optical network, each such destination node having associated to it in said database those of the available paths that lead to that destination node, each such available path having associated to it in said database a value for each of a set of path based optical attributes for path based quality checks of those available paths, and each such available path having associated to it in said database a path channel set that includes one or more wavelengths available to establish lightpaths, and a path based quality check module to determine whether a currently selected one of the available paths in said database meets a set of currently identified requirements based on the set of path based optical attributes for the currently selected path in said routing database. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. An apparatus comprising:
a wavelength division multiplexing optical network including a plurality of access nodes that each include, a routing database that stores available paths with costs from that access node to reachable destination nodes in said wavelength division multiplexing optical network, wherein each of said available paths is a series of nodes and interconnecting links in said optical network over which that path travels, wherein said database stores said available paths grouped by common destination nodes, and sorted in each group at least in part by cost, wherein each of said paths has associated with it in said database the wavelengths available on that path, and wherein each of said paths has associated with it in said database a set of path based optical values; and a set of one or more modules, coupled to said routing database, to select, responsive to identification of one of said destination nodes, different ones of the available paths from the database as the currently selected path, to perform a path based quality check on the currently selected path based on the set of path based optical values in said routing database, and to select one of the wavelengths on the currently selected path if it passes the path based quality check. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A method performed in an access node of a wave division multiplexing optical network, said method comprising:
responsive to a demand for a path to a given destination node, performing the following, accessing a routing database storing available paths with costs from the access node to reachable destination nodes in said optical network, wherein each path is a sequence of nodes and interconnecting links starting at said access node and ending at one of said reachable destination nodes, said available paths being stored grouped by common destination nodes and sorted in each group at least in part by the cost, each of said paths having associated with it in said database the wavelengths available on that path, and each of said paths having associated with it in said database a set of path based optical values, selecting the group of sorted paths with the given destination node; selecting from the selected group of sorted paths a path whose set of path based optical values meets a set of path based quality requirements; and selecting a wavelength on the selected path. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53)
Specification