Two-fiber optical shared protection ring with a bi-directional 4×4 optical switch fabric
First Claim
1. A protection switch for use in a node of a two-fiber optical shared protection ring, the two-fiber optical shared protection ring propagating at least one bi-directional channel, each bi-directional channel including a working first wavelength signal and a working second wavelength signal, one fiber in the two-fiber optical channel shared protection ring propagating the working first wavelength signal in a first direction and the other fiber in the two-fiber optical channel shared protection ring propagating the working second wavelength signal in a second direction opposite the first direction, the switch comprising:
- an N×
N optical switch fabric system disposed in the node, the N×
N optical switch fabric including 2N input/output (I/O) ports, each optical switch fabric being configured to switch at least one bi-directional channel, wherein N is four, or an integer multiple of four;
at least N three-port optical devices coupled to N I/O ports, each three-port optical device includes a bi-directional port coupled to one I/O port, the bi-directional port being configured to propagate the at least one bi-directional channel.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is directed to a protection switch for use in a node of a two-fiber optical shared protection ring. The two-fiber optical shared protection ring propagates at least one bi-directional channel. Each bi-directional channel includes a working first wavelength signal and a working second wavelength signal. One fiber in the two-fiber optical channel shared protection ring propagates the working first wavelength signal in a first direction and the other fiber in the two-fiber optical channel shared protection ring propagating the working second wavelength signal in a second direction opposite the first direction. The switch includes an N×N optical switch fabric system disposed in the node. The N×N optical switch fabric includes 2N input/output (I/O) ports, wherein N is four, or an integer multiple of four. Each optical switch fabric is configured to switch at least one bi-directional channel. At least N three-port optical devices are coupled to N of the I/O ports. Each three-port optical device includes a bi-directional port coupled to an I/O port. The bi-directional port is configured to propagate the at least one bi-directional channel.
34 Citations
42 Claims
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1. A protection switch for use in a node of a two-fiber optical shared protection ring, the two-fiber optical shared protection ring propagating at least one bi-directional channel, each bi-directional channel including a working first wavelength signal and a working second wavelength signal, one fiber in the two-fiber optical channel shared protection ring propagating the working first wavelength signal in a first direction and the other fiber in the two-fiber optical channel shared protection ring propagating the working second wavelength signal in a second direction opposite the first direction, the switch comprising:
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an N×
N optical switch fabric system disposed in the node, the N×
N optical switch fabric including 2N input/output (I/O) ports, each optical switch fabric being configured to switch at least one bi-directional channel, wherein N is four, or an integer multiple of four;
at least N three-port optical devices coupled to N I/O ports, each three-port optical device includes a bi-directional port coupled to one I/O port, the bi-directional port being configured to propagate the at least one bi-directional channel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
at least one drop port coupled to an output port of at least one three-port optical device; and
at least one add port coupled to an input port of at least one three-port optical device.
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3. The switch of claim 1, wherein the bi-directional N×
- N optical switch fabric system is an N×
N space-division optical switch.
- N optical switch fabric system is an N×
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4. The switch of claim 1, further comprising:
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a first fiber optical multiplexer coupled to each output port of N/2 three-port optical devices, the first fiber optical multiplexer being configured to multiplex the working first wavelength signal and the protection second wavelength signal for each bi-directional channel propagating in the node;
a first fiber optical demultiplexer coupled to each input port of N/2 three-port optical devices, the optical multiplexer being configured to demultiplex the DWDM signal into the working first wavelength signal and the protection second wavelength signal for each bi-directional channel propagating in the node;
a second fiber optical multiplexer coupled to each output port of N/2 three-port optical devices, the second fiber optical multiplexer being configured to multiplex the working second wavelength signal and the protection first wavelength signal for each bi-directional channel propagating in the node; and
a second fiber optical demultiplexer coupled to each input port of the N/2 three-port optical devices, the optical multiplexer being configured to demultiplex the DWDM signal into the working second wavelength signal and the protection first wavelength signal for each bi-directional channels propagating in the node.
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5. The switch of claim 4, wherein each of the first fiber optical multiplexer, first fiber optical demultiplexer, the second fiber optical multiplexer, and the second fiber optical demultiplexer are comprised of a diffraction grating system.
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6. The switch of claim 1, wherein the at least N three-port optical devices includes 2N three-port optical devices coupled to 2N I/O ports.
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7. The switch of claim 1, wherein the N×
- N optical switch fabric system includes at least one 4×
4 bi-directional switch fabric configured to switch one bi-directional channel having a working first wavelength signal and a working second wavelength signal, the switch fabric being configured to propagate the working first wavelength signal in a first switch direction, and propagate the working second wavelength signal in a second switch direction opposite to the first switch direction, the at least one 4×
4 bi-directional switch fabric including eight-I/O ports.
- N optical switch fabric system includes at least one 4×
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8. The switch of claim 7, wherein the eight-I/O ports are coupled to eight three-port optical devices.
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9. The switch of claim 8, wherein the eight three-port optical devices are optical interleaving devices having a bi-directional port, an input port, and an output port.
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10. The switch of claim 9, wherein each bi-directional channel includes a protection first wavelength signal propagating in the second switch direction and a protection second wavelength signal propagating in the first switch direction.
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11. The switch of claim 10, wherein an optical interleaving device includes an input coupled to a working first wavelength add port and an output coupled to a working second wavelength drop port.
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12. The switch of claim 10, wherein an optical interleaving device includes an input coupled to a working second wavelength add port and an output coupled to a working first wavelength drop port.
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13. The switch of claim 10, wherein an optical interleaving device includes an input coupled to a protection first wavelength add port and an output coupled to a protection second wavelength drop port.
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14. The switch of claim 10, wherein an optical interleaving device includes an input coupled to a protection second wavelength add port and an output coupled to a protection first wavelength drop port.
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15. The switch of claim 10, wherein each of a plurality of optical interleaving devices include an output port coupled to an optical multiplexer.
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16. The switch of claim 10, wherein each of a plurality of optical interleaving devices include an input port coupled to an optical demultiplexer.
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17. The switch of claim 10, wherein the at least one 4×
- 4 bi-directional switch fabric includes a bar switch state such that the working first wavelength signal and the working second wavelength signal are not switched, and traverse an identical path through the switch in opposite directions.
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18. The switch of claim 10, wherein the at least one 4×
- 4 bi-directional switch fabric includes a bar switch state such that the protection first wavelength signal and the protection second wavelength signal are not switched, and traverse an identical path through the switch in opposite directions.
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19. The switch of claim 10, wherein the at least one 4×
- 4 bi-directional switch fabric includes a cross switch state for dropping at least one working wavelength signal of the bi-directional channel.
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20. The switch of claim 10, wherein the at least one 4×
- 4 bi-directional switch fabric includes a cross switch state for adding at least one working wavelength signal to the bi-directional channel.
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21. The switch of claim 10, wherein the at least one 4×
- 4 bi-directional switch fabric includes a cross switch state for dropping at least one protection wavelength signal from the bi-directional channel.
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22. The switch of claim 10, wherein the at least one 4×
- 4 bi-directional switch fabric includes a cross switch state for adding at least one protection wavelength signal to the bi-directional channel.
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23. The switch of claim 22, wherein the two-fiber optical shared protection ring accommodates one bi-directional channel.
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24. The switch of claim 10, wherein the at least one 4×
- 4 bi-directional switch fabric includes a cross switch state for dropping at least one protection wavelength signal from the bi-directional channel.
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25. The switch of claim 10, wherein the at least one 4×
- 4 bi-directional switch fabric includes a cross switch state for adding both at least one working wavelength signal and at least one protection wavelength signal to the bi-directional channel.
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26. The switch of claim 7, wherein the eight-I/O ports are coupled to four three-port optical devices.
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27. The switch of claim 26, wherein the four three-port optical devices are optical interleaving devices having a bi-directional port, an input port, and an output port.
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28. The switch of claim 7, wherein the at least one 4×
- 4 bi-directional switch fabric is comprised of a 4×
4 space-division optical switch.
- 4 bi-directional switch fabric is comprised of a 4×
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29. The switch of claim 7, wherein the at least one 4×
- 4 bi-directional switch fabric comprises a thermooptic silica actuated switch.
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30. The switch of claim 7, wherein the at least one 4×
- 4 bi-directional switch fabric is comprised of a 4×
4 space-division optical switch including Mach-Zehnder interferometer switching units.
- 4 bi-directional switch fabric is comprised of a 4×
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31. The switch of claim 30, wherein the Mach-Zehnder interferometer switching units include thermooptic actuators.
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32. The switch of claim 30, wherein the Mach-Zehnder interferometer switching units include electrooptic actuators.
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33. The switch of claim 30, wherein the Mach-Zehnder interferometer switching units include piezoelectric actuators.
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34. The switch of claim 7, wherein the at least one 4×
- 4 bi-directional switch fabric is comprised of a 4×
4 MEMS optical switch.
- 4 bi-directional switch fabric is comprised of a 4×
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35. The switch of claim 1, wherein the N×
- N optical switch fabric system includes at least one 4×
4 uni-directional switch fabric configured to switch one bi-directional channel having a working first wavelength signal and a working second wavelength signal, the switch fabric being configured to propagate the working first wavelength signal and the working second wavelength signal in a first switch direction, the at least one 4×
4 bi-directional switch fabric including eight-I/O ports, each I/O port being coupled to a three-port optical band-splitter.
- N optical switch fabric system includes at least one 4×
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36. The switch of claim 35, wherein the working first wavelength signal and the working second wavelength signal of the bi-directional channel are not independently switchable.
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37. The switch of claim 35, wherein each bi-directional channel includes a protection first wavelength signal and a protection second wavelength signal propagating in the first switch direction.
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38. The switch of claim 37, wherein the working first wavelength signal, the protection first wavelength signal, the working second wavelength signal, and the protection second wavelength signal of the bi-directional channel are not independently switchable.
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39. A two-fiber optical channel shared protection ring, the two-fiber optical shared protection ring propagating at least one bi-directional channel, each bi-directional channel including a working first wavelength signal and a working second wavelength signal, one fiber in the two-fiber optical channel shared protection ring propagating the working first wavelength signal in a first direction and the other fiber in the two-fiber optical channel shared protection ring propagating the working second wavelength signal in a second direction opposite the first direction, the protection ring comprising:
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a monitor coupled to the two-fiber optical channel shared protection ring, the monitor being configured to detect at least one fault condition in the two-fiber optical channel shared protection ring; and
a plurality of switching nodes interconnected by the two-fiber optical channel shared protection ring, each switching node being responsive to the monitor, the switching node including, an N×
N optical switch fabric system disposed in the node, the N×
N optical switch fabric including 2N input/output (I/O) ports, each optical switch fabric being configured to switch at least one bi-directional channel, wherein N is four, or an integer multiple of four,at least N three-port optical devices coupled to at least N I/O ports, each three-port optical device includes a bi-directional port coupled to one I/O port, an input port, and an output port, the bi-directional port being configured to propagate the at least one bi-directional channel, at least one client add port coupled to the input port, and at least one drop port coupled to the output port. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42)
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Specification