Time-based grooming and degrooming methods with common time reference for optical networks
First Claim
1. A grooming system, comprising a plurality of input channels, and at least one output channel, the system comprising:
- a Common Time Reference (CTR), divided into a plurality of contiguous time frames (TFs), wherein the time frames have a plurality of predefined time durations;
wherein each of the input channels are associated with respective time frames grouped according to a respective common time cycle;
wherein the at least one output channel is associated with respective time frames grouped according to a respective common time cycle;
wherein each of the time frames provides for transfer of a plurality of data units;
first means for mapping the time frames from the respective subset of the time frames associated with the respective ones of the input channels for each of the plurality of the data units;
second means for mapping each of the time frames associated with the at least one output channel, from a respective subset of the time frames for respective ones of the input channels, to provide a defined delay between the respective time frames associated with the transfer of each of the data units from the respective input channel, to the respective at least one output channel.
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Abstract
Time-based grooming and degrooming methods and systems of data units that utilize a common time reference is disclosed. Time is divided into a plurality of contiguous periodic time frames with a plurality of time frame durations. The system and method enable the grooming and switching of data units from a plurality of low speed links into one or more high-speed links. The system and method further enable the grooming and switching of data units from one or more high-speed links into a plurality of low speed links. The plurality of data units that are contained in each of the time frames are forwarded in a pipelined manner through the network switches. The system operates with high-speed wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) links, i.e., with multiple lambdas. The outcome of this method is called fractional lambda grooming.
32 Citations
61 Claims
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1. A grooming system, comprising a plurality of input channels, and at least one output channel, the system comprising:
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a Common Time Reference (CTR), divided into a plurality of contiguous time frames (TFs), wherein the time frames have a plurality of predefined time durations; wherein each of the input channels are associated with respective time frames grouped according to a respective common time cycle; wherein the at least one output channel is associated with respective time frames grouped according to a respective common time cycle; wherein each of the time frames provides for transfer of a plurality of data units; first means for mapping the time frames from the respective subset of the time frames associated with the respective ones of the input channels for each of the plurality of the data units; second means for mapping each of the time frames associated with the at least one output channel, from a respective subset of the time frames for respective ones of the input channels, to provide a defined delay between the respective time frames associated with the transfer of each of the data units from the respective input channel, to the respective at least one output channel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 51, 52, 53)
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15. A grooming system, comprising:
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a plurality of grooming subsystems, each grooming subsystem comprising; at least one output channel and a plurality of input channels each associated with a plurality of channel bit rates, a Common Time Reference (CTR), divided into a plurality of contiguous time Frames (TFs), wherein the time frames have a plurality of predefined time durations; means for mapping a scheduling of transfer of data units from a respective subset of the time frames for the respective ones of the input channels to a respective one of the time frames for each of the output channels to provide a defined time delay between transfer of each of the respective data units from the respective input channel to the respective output channel, wherein the time frames for each of the input channels from the plurality of grooming subsystems are grouped according to a respective common cycle;
wherein the time frames for each of the output channels from the plurality of grooming subsystems are grouped according to a respective common cycle of a plurality of common cycles; and
wherein all the common cycles have a common duration and are associated with respective ones of the input channels and the output channels from the plurality of grooming subsystems. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A grooming subsystem, comprising:
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a plurality of input channels, and at least one output channel; a Common Time Reference (CTR), divided into a plurality of contiguous time frames (TFs), wherein the time frames have a plurality of predefined time durations; wherein each of the time frames is associated with a predefined number of plurality of data units; and means for mapping for each of the time frames of each of the output channels a predefined subset of the data units from a respective subset of the time frames for a respective subset of the input channels to provide a defined delay between transfer of each of the data units from the respective input channel to the respective output channel. - View Dependent Claims (21, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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22. A degrooming system, comprising:
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a plurality of degrooming subsystems, each degrooming subsystem comprising a plurality of output channels, and at least one input channel; a Common Time Reference (CTR), divided into a plurality of contiguous time frames (TFs), wherein the time frames have a plurality of predefined time durations; and wherein each of the time frames provides a plurality of data units; first means for mapping a scheduling of transfer of selected ones of the data units for each respective one of the time frames, from a respective input channel to at least one time frame associated with the at least one of the output channels from at least one of the plurality of degrooming subsystems; second means for mapping a scheduling for transfer of data units for each respective one of the time frames from the respective input channel to at least one time frame of at least one of the output channels from the plurality of degrooming subsystems, to provide a defined delay between the transfer of each respective data unit from the respective input channel to the respective output channel; wherein the time frames for each of the output channels from the plurality of degrooming subsystems are grouped according to a respective common cycle; wherein the time frames for each of the input channels from the plurality of degrooming subsystems are grouped according to a respective common cycle. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 58)
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33. A grooming method, for use in scheduling transfer of data units with a switching system comprising a plurality of input channels, and at least one of a plurality of output channels, the method comprising:
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providing a Common Time Reference (CTR); dividing the CTR into a plurality of contiguous time frames (TFs), wherein the time frames have a plurality of predefined time durations, wherein a plurality of data units can be transferred within each of the time frames; mapping a scheduling of transfer of respective selected ones of the data units for each of the input channels, into selected ones of the time frames from a respective subset of the time frames for each respective ones of the input channels; and mapping a scheduling of transfer of the respective selected data units into respective selected ones of the time frames for each of the output channels, from each of the respective subset of the time frames for the respective ones of the input channels, to provide a defined delay between the transfer of the respective data unit from the respective input channel to the respective output channel. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 59)
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43. A grooming method for use with a switching system, comprising a plurality of input channels, and at least one output channel, the method comprising:
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providing a Common Time Reference (CTR); dividing the CTR into a plurality of contiguous time frames (TFs), wherein the time frames have a plurality of predefined time durations, wherein each of the time frames can provide for communications of a predefined number of plurality of data units; and mapping for each of the time frames of each of the output channels a predefined subset of the data units from a respective subset of the time frames for a respective subset of the input channels, to provide a defined delay between the transfer of each respective one of the plurality of data units from the respective input channel to the respective output channel, wherein the time frames for each of the input channels from the plurality of grooming subsystems are grouped according to a respective common cycle;
wherein the time frames for each of the output channels from the plurality of grooming subsystems are grouped according to a respective common cycle of a plurality of common cycles; and
wherein all the common cycles have a common duration and are associated with respective ones of the input channels and the output channels from the plurality of grooming subsystems. - View Dependent Claims (44, 60)
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45. A degrooming method, for use in providing for transfer of a plurality of data units, with a switching system comprised of a plurality of output channels, and at least one input channel, the method comprising:
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providing a Common Time Reference (CTR), dividing the CTR into a plurality of contiguous time frames (TFs), wherein the time frames have a plurality of predefined time durations; mapping for each respective one of the time frames from the respective input channel, to at least one time frame associated with at least one of the output channels to provide a defined delay between the transfer of the respective data unit from the respective input channel to the respective output channel; grouping the time frames for each of the output channels and the at least one input channel; and associating each of the groupings of time frames with a respective common time cycle of a plurality of time cycles, wherein the time frames for each of the input channels are grouped according to a respective common cycle. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 61)
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Specification