Time Slot Allocation for Burst Switched Network
First Claim
1. A method of configuring a node for burst switching of traffic flows in an optical network, having the steps of:
- receiving indications relating to a traffic flow to be scheduled comprising at least an indication of a destination node and of a jitter specification for the traffic flow, the traffic flow comprising a series of bursts, andallocating bursts of that traffic flow to time slots of at least one optical network frame having a destination corresponding to the indicated destination node of the traffic flow, wherein a time gap between successive allocated time slots is selected according to the jitter specification of the traffic flow, andconfiguring the node, before the traffic flow arrives at the node, to enable the node to switch the bursts towards the respective destination node in their allocated time slots.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Anode for burst switching of traffic flows in an optical network switches bursts of traffic flows in different time slots. Time slots are allocated (96) so that a time gap between successive allocated time slots is selected according to a jitter specification of the traffic flow. A map of the allocations controls a burst switch to pass the bursts in their allocated time slots (86). By making the time gap between allocated time slots for successive bursts selectable, the jitter can be controlled more precisely, or the proportion of time slots filled can be increased resulting in better utilisation of available bandwidth. The allocation can be made hop by hop. The map can be generated in a distributed and duplicated manner at each node. The allocation can be updated to adapt to changes bandwidth demands.
27 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of configuring a node for burst switching of traffic flows in an optical network, having the steps of:
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receiving indications relating to a traffic flow to be scheduled comprising at least an indication of a destination node and of a jitter specification for the traffic flow, the traffic flow comprising a series of bursts, and allocating bursts of that traffic flow to time slots of at least one optical network frame having a destination corresponding to the indicated destination node of the traffic flow, wherein a time gap between successive allocated time slots is selected according to the jitter specification of the traffic flow, and configuring the node, before the traffic flow arrives at the node, to enable the node to switch the bursts towards the respective destination node in their allocated time slots. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. Apparatus for configuring a node for burst switching of traffic flows in an optical network, the apparatus having:
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an input configured to receive indications relating to a traffic flow to be scheduled comprising at least an indication of a destination node and of a jitter specification for the traffic flow, the traffic flow comprising a series of bursts, and a processor configured to allocate bursts of that traffic flow to time slots of at least one optical network frame having a destination corresponding to the indicated destination node of the traffic flow, wherein the processor is configured to select a time gap between successive allocated time slots according to the jitter specification of the traffic flow, and to configure the node before the traffic flow arrives at the node, to enable the node to switch the bursts towards the respective destination node in their allocated time slots. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. An optical network having multiple nodes, each having apparatus for configuring a node for burst switching of traffic flows in an optical network, where the apparatus includes an input configured to receive indications relating to a traffic flow to be scheduled comprising at least an indication of a destination node and of a jitter specification for the traffic flow, the traffic flow comprising a series of bursts, and a processor configured to allocate bursts of that traffic flow to time slots of at least one optical network frame having a destination corresponding to the indicated destination node of the traffic flow, wherein the processor is configured to select a time gap between successive allocated time slots according to the jitter specification of the traffic flow, and to configure the node before the traffic flow arrives at the node, to enable the node to switch the bursts towards the respective destination node in their allocated time slots, the allocating being distributed and duplicated at the multiple nodes, the nodes each being configured to generate maps of allocated time slots for their traffic flows and for traffic flows of others of the nodes, to provide duplicate maps at the nodes for use in optical burst switching of the traffic flows.
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15. (canceled)
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16. A method of configuring a node for burst switching of traffic flows in an optical network, having the steps of:
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receiving indications relating to a traffic flow to be scheduled comprising at least an indication of a destination node and of a routing of at least two hops via an intermediate node, the traffic flow comprising a series of bursts, and allocating bursts of that traffic flow to time slots for each of the hops, the time-slots being of at least one optical network frame having a destination corresponding to the indicated routing of the traffic flow, and configuring the node, before the traffic flow arrives at the node, to enable the node to switch the bursts towards the respective destination node in their allocated time slots.
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17. A method of configuring a node for burst switching of traffic flows in an optical network, having the steps of:
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receiving indications relating to a traffic flow to be scheduled comprising at least an indication of a destination node, the traffic flow comprising a series of bursts, and allocating bursts of that traffic flow to time slots of at least one optical network frame having a destination corresponding to the indicated routing of the traffic flow, and configuring the node, before the traffic flow arrives at the node, to enable the node to switch the bursts towards the respective destination node in their allocated time slots, wherein the allocating is distributed and duplicated at multiple nodes of the optical network by having a step at the node of generating maps of allocated time slots for traffic flows at the node and for traffic flows at others of the nodes, and having the step of generating duplicate maps at the others of the nodes.
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18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a computer program comprising program instructions that, when executed by a processor of a node configured for operation in an optical network, configure the node for burst switching of traffic flows in the optical network, based on the computer program comprising program instructions configuring the node to:
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receive indications relating to a traffic flow to be scheduled comprising at least an indication of a destination node and of a jitter specification for the traffic flow, the traffic flow comprising a series of bursts, and allocate bursts of that traffic flow to time slots of at least one optical network frame having a destination corresponding to the indicated destination node of the traffic flow, wherein a time gap between successive allocated time slots is selected according to the jitter specification of the traffic flow, and configure the node, before the traffic flow arrives at the node, to enable the node to switch the bursts towards the respective destination node in their allocated time slots.
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Specification