Optical Network for Cluster Computing

• US 20100254703A1
• Filed: 04/01/2009
• Published: 10/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jpmorgan Chase Bank NA As The Agent
• Original Assignee: Fusion-IO Incorporated (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Kirkpatrick, Peter E., Verdiell, Jean-Marc, Epitaux, Marc
• Granted Patent: US 8,270,830 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 398/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0005 Switch and router aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2011/0052 Interconnection of switches

Abstract

Leaf switches and spine switches in a Clos network are interconnected by optical fibers. The network enables large numbers of servers or other apparatus to communicate with each other with minimal delay and minimal power consumption.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a plurality of leaf switches;

a plurality of leaf ports, wherein each leaf port of the plurality of leaf ports is connected to a leaf switch;

at least one spine switch;

a plurality of spine ports, wherein each spine port of the plurality of spine ports is connected to a spine switch; and

an optical cluster fabric (OCF) comprising a plurality of channel sets connecting the plurality of leaf ports to the plurality of spine ports according to a Clos network structure.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the OCF comprises a plurality of fiber optic lines forming the plurality of channel sets, wherein each channel set of the plurality of channel sets is connected between one port of the first set of ports and at least two ports of the second set of ports.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the Clos network structure comprises a full bisectional bandwidth.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the Clos network structure comprises a folded Clos network structure.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the plurality of leaf switches comprises r leaf switches;

the plurality of leaf ports comprises n ports;

the plurality of spine ports comprises p ports;

the at least one spine switch comprises r*n/p spine switches; and

a p/r fraction of the leaf ports are coupled to each spine port.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein each channel of the plurality of channel sets includes:

a first optical fiber for transferring information from a leaf switch to a spine switch; and

a second optical fiber for transferring information from the spine switch to the leaf switch.

7. A system comprising:

a plurality of leaf switches, each having a plurality of first ports for being connected to external apparatus, and having a plurality of second ports;

at least one spine switch having a plurality of third ports for being connected to ones of the plurality of second ports of the leaf switches; and

a connector coupled between the second ports and the third ports, the connector comprising a fourth set of ports coupled to the plurality of second ports, a fifth set of ports coupled to the plurality of third ports, and an optical cluster fabric (OCF) comprising a plurality of channel sets coupled between the fourth set of ports and the fifth set of ports, wherein the OCF comprises a plurality of fiber optic lines forming the plurality of channel sets, wherein each channel set of the plurality of channel sets is connected between one port of the fourth set of ports and at least two ports of the fifth set of ports.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the first set of ports presents grouped channels for connection to the plurality of leaf switches, wherein the second set of ports presents the grouped channels for connection to the at least one spine switch.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the OCF couples the plurality of channel sets of the first set of ports and the second set of ports according to a Clos network structure.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the Clos network structure comprises a full bisectional bandwidth.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the Clos network structure comprises a folded Clos network structure.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein:

the plurality of leaf switches comprises r leaf switches;

the plurality of first ports and second ports each comprise n ports;

the plurality of third ports comprises p ports;

the at least one spine switch comprises r*n/p spine switches; and

each leaf switch has p/r fraction of its second ports coupled to each spine switch.

13. The system of claim 7, wherein each channel of the channel set includes:

a first optical fiber for conveying information from a leaf switch to a spine switch; and

a second optical fiber for conveying information from the spine switch to the leaf switch.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein each channel includes an optical transceiver for converting between electrical and optical signals.

15. The system of claim 7, wherein each channel set includes twelve (12) channels.

16. The system of claim 7, wherein each channel of the channel set includes an optical transceiver for converting between electrical and optical signals.

17. The system of claim 7, wherein each channel of the channel set comprises:

a first optical fiber for conveying information from a first port of the first set of ports to a first port of the second set of ports; and

a second optical fiber for conveying information from the first port of the second set of ports to the first port of the first set of ports.

18. The system of claim 7, wherein the external apparatus comprises a computer server, and there is a separate computer server for each of the first ports.

19. A system comprising:

first, second, third and fourth leaf switches, each leaf switch having 2n ports, a first number n of the 2n ports being adapted to be coupled to external apparatus and a second number n of the 2n ports being available for connection to provide 4n ports available for connection;

first and second spine switches each having p ports for a total of 2p ports; and

an optical network coupled between the 4n ports of the leaf switches and the 2p ports of the spine switches, the optical network comprising a first set of ports coupled to the leaf switches, a second set of ports coupled to the spine switches, and an optical cluster fabric (OCF) comprising a plurality of channel sets coupled between the first set of ports and the second set of ports, wherein the OCF comprises a plurality of fiber optic lines forming the plurality of channel sets, wherein each channel set of the plurality of channel sets is connected between one port of the first set of ports and at least two ports of the second set of ports.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein n is 12 and p is 24.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein each port is adapted to be coupled to a pair of the plurality of fiber optic lines, one for transmission of information to the port and one for transmission of information away from the port.

22. A network for providing interconnections in a system having a plurality r of leaf switches, each leaf switch having a first plurality n of first ports for being connected to external apparatus and having a second plurality n of second ports, and having a third plurality of spine switches each having a fourth plurality p of third ports, where the fourth plurality of spine switches is r*n/p, the network comprising a set of optical channels connecting p/r fraction of the second plurality n of second ports of each leaf switch to each one of the fourth plurality of spine switches, wherein the set of optical channels comprises a plurality of fiber optic lines.

23. The network of claim 22, wherein the set of optical channels connects the p/r fraction of the second plurality n of second ports of each leaf switch to each one of the fourth plurality of spine switches according to a Clos network structure.

24. The network of claim 23, wherein the Clos network structure comprises a full bisectional bandwidth.

25. The network of claim 23, wherein the Clos network structure comprises a folded Clos network structure.

26. The network of claim 22, wherein each optical channel includes a first optical transceiver for converting between electrical and optical signals at one end and a second optical transceiver for converting between electrical and optical signals at another end.

27. The network of claim 26, wherein the optical transceivers are grouped together into units and the optical fibers are grouped together in bundles having a number of optical fibers corresponding to the number of optical transceivers in each unit.

28. The network of claim 27, wherein the number of optical transceivers grouped together into a unit is evenly divisible into the first plurality n.

29. The network of claim 26, wherein each optical channel includes two optical fibers, with a first optical fiber for transmitting information in one direction and a second optical fiber for transmitting information in an opposite direction.

30. The network of claim 22, wherein r is 4, n is 12, and p is 24.

31. The network of claim 22, wherein r is 8, n is 12, and p is 24.