OPTICAL COMMUNICATION APPARATUS, OPTICAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, AND PATH CONTROL METHOD

• US 20130077969A1
• Filed: 09/11/2012
• Published: 03/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: NAKATA, Takeshi
• Granted Patent: US 9,473,262 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 398/48
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/021 Reconfigurable arrangements, e.g. reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers [ROADM] or tunable optical add/drop multiplexers [TOADM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0212 using optical switches or wavelength selective switches [WSS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/02122 Colourless, directionless or contentionless [CDC] arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0217 Multi-degree architectures, e.g. having a connection degree greater than two

Abstract

An optical communication apparatus of a wavelength division multiplexing transmission system has a transponder having a double-wavelength tunable transceiver and a transceiver including a switching controller, and a ROADM device having a device that copes with a colorless function and a directionless function and can operate in cooperation with the transponder.

Claims

1. An optical communication apparatus comprising:

a transponder having a multiple-wavelength tunable transceiver and a transceiver including a switching controller; and

a reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer having a device that copes with a colorless function and a directionless function and can operate in cooperation with the transponder.

2. The optical communication apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the transponder has a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) transceiver part including a plurality of transmitters and a plurality of receivers,

a coupler with multiple inputs and a single output is connected to outputs of the plurality of transmitters, and

a coupler with a single input and multiple outputs is connected to inputs of the plurality of receivers.

3. The optical communication apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the transponder has a non-instantaneous-interruption switching part and a non-instantaneous-interruption switching controller operable to control the non-instantaneous-interruption switching part.

4. The optical communication apparatus as recited in claim 2, wherein the transponder has a non-instantaneous-interruption switching part and a non-instantaneous-interruption switching controller operable to control the non-instantaneous-interruption switching part.

5. The optical communication apparatus as recited in claim 3, wherein the transponder has an error correction part operable to perform an error correction.

6. The optical communication apparatus as recited in claim 4, wherein the transponder has an error correction part operable to perform an error correction.

7. The optical communication apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the transponder has a channel controller operable to manage a channel of an optical signal transmitted to or received from the reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer based upon a control signal for determining a network path.

8. The optical communication apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer has a transceiver module connectable to a predetermined number of transmission lines, a wavelength cross connector module operable to switch optical signals, and an add part and a drop part connected to the transponder.

9. The optical communication apparatus as recited in claim 8, wherein the add part and the drop part are configured to be capable of coping with a plurality of paths.

10. An optical communication system comprising:

a plurality of nodes each having the optical communication apparatus as recited in claim 1.

11. An optical communication system including a plurality of nodes each having an optical communication apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the transponder has a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) transceiver part including a plurality of transmitters and a plurality of receivers,

a coupler with multiple inputs and a single output is connected to outputs of the plurality of transmitters, and

a coupler with a single input and multiple outputs is connected to inputs of the plurality of receivers.

12. An optical communication system including a plurality of nodes each having an optical communication apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the transponder has a non-instantaneous-interruption switching part and a non-instantaneous-interruption switching controller operable to control the non-instantaneous-interruption switching part.

13. An optical communication system including a plurality of nodes each having an optical communication apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the transponder has a non-instantaneous-interruption switching part and a non-instantaneous-interruption switching controller operable to control the non-instantaneous-interruption switching part.

14. An optical communication system including a plurality of nodes each having an optical communication apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the transponder has a non-instantaneous-interruption switching part and a non-instantaneous-interruption switching controller operable to control the non-instantaneous-interruption switching part, and wherein the transponder has an error correction part operable to perform an error correction.

15. An optical communication system including a plurality of nodes each having an optical communication apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the transponder has a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) transceiver part including a plurality of transmitters and a plurality of receivers,

a coupler with multiple inputs and a single output is connected to outputs of the plurality of transmitters, and

a coupler with a single input and multiple outputs is connected to inputs of the plurality of receivers, and wherein the transponder has a non-instantaneous-interruption switching part and a non-instantaneous-interruption switching controller operable to control the non-instantaneous-interruption switching part, and

wherein the transponder has an error correction part operable to perform an error correction.

16. An optical communication system including a plurality of nodes each having an optical communication apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the transponder has a channel controller operable to manage a channel of an optical signal transmitted to or received from the reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer based upon a control signal for determining a network path.

17. An optical communication system including a plurality of nodes each having an optical communication apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer has a transceiver module connectable to a predetermined number of transmission lines, a wavelength cross connector module operable to switch optical signals, and an add part and a drop part connected to the transponder.

18. An optical communication system including a plurality of nodes each having an optical communication apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer has a transceiver module connectable to a predetermined number of transmission lines, a wavelength cross connector module operable to switch optical signals, and an add part and a drop part connected to the transponder, and wherein the add part and the drop part are configured to be capable of coping with a plurality of paths.

19. The optical communication system as recited in claim 10, wherein a path of λ

1 that is connected to the plurality of nodes can automatically be switched into another path of λ

2 that is different from λ

1.

20. A communication path control method comprising:

switching optical communication paths between a plurality of nodes by using a transponder provided on each of the nodes and a device that copes with a colorless function and a directionless function and can operate in cooperation with the transponder.