Method and system for optical restoration tributary switching in a fiber network
First Claim
1. A fiber communication network having first and second nodes optically connected by at least one working fiber and at least one protect fiber, wherein first ends of each at least one working fiber and at least one protect fiber are connected to the first node and wherein second ends of each at least one working fiber and at least one protect fiber are connected to the second node, comprising:
- first and second lightwave terminal elements connected respectively on a line side to the first ends of each at least one working fiber and at least one protect fiber at the first node;
third and fourth lightwave terminal elements connected respectively on a line side to the second ends of each at least one working fiber and at least one protect fiber at the second node;
a first optical cross-connect tributary switch optically coupled on a tributary side to said first and second lightwave terminal elements for switching between optical tributary paths connected to said first and second lightwave terminal elements; and
a second optical cross-connect tributary switch optically coupled on a tributary side to said third and fourth lightwave terminal elements for switching between optical tributary paths connected to said third and fourth lightwave terminal elements;
wherein, said first and second optical cross-connect tributary switches can each switch an optical signal to travel through an optical tributary path such that said second or fourth lightwave terminal element multiplexes said optical signal for transport over the at least one protect fiber when the at least one working fiber is unavailable.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for restoration of a fiber communication network through optical tributary switching. Multi-port optical cross-switches switch traffic at the tributary side of lightwave terminal equipment in the event of a network failure. Optical tributary switching is implemented in a variety of all-optical core network architectures including separate disjoint path, link-based mesh, and path-based mesh configurations. Network resiliency is enhanced without introducing loss over a high-speed fiber line or trunk.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A fiber communication network having first and second nodes optically connected by at least one working fiber and at least one protect fiber, wherein first ends of each at least one working fiber and at least one protect fiber are connected to the first node and wherein second ends of each at least one working fiber and at least one protect fiber are connected to the second node, comprising:
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first and second lightwave terminal elements connected respectively on a line side to the first ends of each at least one working fiber and at least one protect fiber at the first node; third and fourth lightwave terminal elements connected respectively on a line side to the second ends of each at least one working fiber and at least one protect fiber at the second node; a first optical cross-connect tributary switch optically coupled on a tributary side to said first and second lightwave terminal elements for switching between optical tributary paths connected to said first and second lightwave terminal elements; and a second optical cross-connect tributary switch optically coupled on a tributary side to said third and fourth lightwave terminal elements for switching between optical tributary paths connected to said third and fourth lightwave terminal elements;
wherein, said first and second optical cross-connect tributary switches can each switch an optical signal to travel through an optical tributary path such that said second or fourth lightwave terminal element multiplexes said optical signal for transport over the at least one protect fiber when the at least one working fiber is unavailable. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A communication network having a plurality of nodes interconnected by fiber links, comprising:
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a first node connected to first and second fiber links, said first node including first and second optical tributary paths; first and second lightwave terminal elements (LTEs) connected respectively between said first and second fiber links and said first and second optical tributary paths; and a first optical cross-connect tributary switch for switching between said first and second optical tributary paths, such that an optical signal input to said first node travels through said second optical tributary path to said second lightwave terminal element for transport over the second fiber link when the first fiber link is unavailable. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for restoring an optical network, comprising:
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inputting optical carrier tributary signals at a first node; optically switching said optical carrier tributary signals through first and second sets of optical tributary fibers depending upon a network condition; multiplexing said switched optical carrier tributary signals to form an optical carrier line signal; and outputting said optical carrier line signal from said first node toward a second node in the network. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification