Optical switching apparatus and methods
First Claim
1. An optical switching method for switching to a destination route upstream optical signal samples that are obtained from a first source by a spread spectrum technique, and upstream optical signal samples that are obtained from additional NCC sources and comprise at least one of the following:
- upstream optical signal samples that are separately obtained from NS out of the NCC sources by said spread spectrum technique; and
n series of upstream optical signal samples that are separately obtained from n out of the NCC sources and are carried over n discrete channel wavelengths, wherein the upstream optical signal samples obtained from said first source are provided at a data rate DRS, the upstream optical signal samples obtained from the NS sources are provided at data rates DRSSj, and each series of upstream optical signal samples in the n series of upstream optical signal samples is carried over a discrete channel wavelength λ
i at a data rate DRi, where each of NCC, n and NS is an integer greater than or equal to one, i is an index running from 1 to n, and j is an index running from 1 to NS, the method comprising;
optically converting said upstream optical signal samples that are obtained from said first source and said upstream optical signal samples that are obtained from said additional NCC sources into a broadband combined series of upstream optical signal samples at a combined data rate DRc which is greater than each of the following;
DRS;
any separate DRSSj; and
any separate DRi; and
routing said broadband combined series of upstream optical signal samples to said destination route.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An optical switching apparatus in an optical communication network selectively combines and separates, using OTDM and/or WDM, optical signal samples that are obtained by a spread spectrum technique or a combination of optical signal samples that are obtained by a spread spectrum technique and optical signal samples that are carried over discrete channel wavelengths. In upstream communication, when optical signal samples that are received at the optical switching apparatus include upstream optical signal samples that are obtained by a spread spectrum technique, the optical switching apparatus optically converts the optical signal samples provided thereto into a broadband combined series of upstream optical signal samples and routes the broadband combined series of upstream optical signal samples to a destination route. In downstream communication, when the optical switching apparatus receives a broadband series of downstream optical signal samples obtained by utilizing a spread spectrum technique, the optical switching apparatus optically converts the broadband series of downstream optical signal samples into an integer number nn>1 of series of downstream optical signal samples that include at least one of the following: broadband series of downstream optical signal samples; and series of downstream optical signal samples having the downstream optical signal samples carried over discrete channel wavelengths. The nn series of downstream optical signal samples are then routed to nn routes respectively. Related apparatus and methods are also described.
47 Citations
17 Claims
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1. An optical switching method for switching to a destination route upstream optical signal samples that are obtained from a first source by a spread spectrum technique, and upstream optical signal samples that are obtained from additional NCC sources and comprise at least one of the following:
- upstream optical signal samples that are separately obtained from NS out of the NCC sources by said spread spectrum technique; and
n series of upstream optical signal samples that are separately obtained from n out of the NCC sources and are carried over n discrete channel wavelengths, wherein the upstream optical signal samples obtained from said first source are provided at a data rate DRS, the upstream optical signal samples obtained from the NS sources are provided at data rates DRSSj, and each series of upstream optical signal samples in the n series of upstream optical signal samples is carried over a discrete channel wavelength λ
i at a data rate DRi, where each of NCC, n and NS is an integer greater than or equal to one, i is an index running from 1 to n, and j is an index running from 1 to NS, the method comprising;optically converting said upstream optical signal samples that are obtained from said first source and said upstream optical signal samples that are obtained from said additional NCC sources into a broadband combined series of upstream optical signal samples at a combined data rate DRc which is greater than each of the following;
DRS;
any separate DRSSj; and
any separate DRi; androuting said broadband combined series of upstream optical signal samples to said destination route. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
- upstream optical signal samples that are separately obtained from NS out of the NCC sources by said spread spectrum technique; and
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6. An optical switching method for switching to nn routes a broadband series of downstream optical signal samples obtained by utilizing a spread spectrum technique, where nn is an integer greater than one and the broadband series of downstream optical signal samples is provided at a data rate DRT, the method comprising:
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optically converting the broadband series of downstream optical signal samples into nn series of downstream optical signal samples at data rates DRT1, . . . , DRTnn, the nn series of downstream optical signal samples comprising at least one of the following;
NT broadband series of downstream optical signal samples; and
NST series of downstream optical signal samples having the downstream optical signal samples carried over discrete channel wavelengths, where each of nn, NT and NST is an integer greater than or equal to one, and each of DRT1, . . . , DRTnn is less than DRT; androuting said nn series of downstream optical signal samples to the nn routes respectively. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8)
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9. An optical switching apparatus that switches to a destination route upstream optical signal samples that are obtained from a first source by a spread spectrum technique, and upstream optical signal samples that are obtained from additional NCC sources and comprise at least one of the following:
- upstream optical signal samples that are separately obtained from NS sources by said spread spectrum technique; and
n series of upstream optical signal samples that are separately obtained from n sources and are carried over n discrete channel wavelengths, wherein the upstream optical signal samples obtained from said first source are provided at a data rate DRS, the upstream optical signal samples obtained from the NS sources are provided at data rates DRSSj, and each series of upstream optical signal samples in the n series of upstream optical signal samples is carried over a discrete channel wavelength λ
i at a data rate DRi, where each of NCC, n and NS is an integer greater than or equal to one, i is an index running from 1 to n, and j is an index running from 1 to NS, the apparatus comprising;an upstream optical converter unit operative to convert said upstream optical signal samples that are obtained from said first source and said upstream optical signal samples that are obtained from said additional NCC sources into a broadband combined series of upstream optical signal samples at a combined data rate DRc which is greater than each of the following;
DRS;
any separate DRSSj; and
any separate DRi; andan upstream router operatively associated with the upstream optical converter unit and operative to route said broadband combined series of upstream optical signal samples to said destination route. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 16)
- upstream optical signal samples that are separately obtained from NS sources by said spread spectrum technique; and
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12. An optical switching apparatus that switches to nn routes a broadband series of downstream optical signal samples obtained by utilizing a spread spectrum technique, where nn is an integer greater than one and the broadband series of downstream optical signal samples is provided at a data rate DRT, the apparatus comprising:
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a downstream optical converter unit operative to convert the broadband series of downstream optical signal samples into nn series of downstream optical signal samples at data rates DRT1, . . . , DRTnn, the nn series of downstream optical signal samples comprising at least one of the following;
NT broadband series of downstream optical signal samples; and
NST series of downstream optical signal samples having the downstream optical signal samples carried over discrete channel wavelengths, where each of nn, NT and NST is an integer greater than or equal to one, and each of DRT1, . . . , DRTnn is less than DRT; anda downstream router operatively associated with the downstream optical converter unit and operative to route said nn series of downstream optical signal samples to the nn routes respectively. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 17)
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15. A method of communicating between a node server and an end node of an optical communication network, the method comprising:
- transmitting an optical communication signal between the server and the end node, optical communication signal comprising a broadband series of optical signal samples having the optical signal samples carried at a data rate DRc, the broadband series of optical signal samples being produced by optically converting optical signal samples that are obtained from a first source by a spread spectrum technique, and optical signal samples that are obtained from additional NCC sources and comprise at least one of the following;
optical signal samples that are separately obtained from NS out of the NCC sources by said spread spectrum technique; and
n series of optical signal samples that are separately obtained from n out of the NCC sources and are carried over n discrete channel wavelengths, wherein the optical signal samples obtained from said first source are provided at a data rate DRS, the optical signal samples obtained from the NS sources are provided at data rates DRSSj, and each series of optical signal samples in the n series of optical signal samples has the optical signal samples carried at a data rate DRi, where each of NCC, n and NS is an integer greater than or equal to one, i is an index running from 1 to n, and j is an index running from 1 to NS, and DRc is greater than each of the following;
DRS;
any separate DRSSj; and
any separate DRi.
- transmitting an optical communication signal between the server and the end node, optical communication signal comprising a broadband series of optical signal samples having the optical signal samples carried at a data rate DRc, the broadband series of optical signal samples being produced by optically converting optical signal samples that are obtained from a first source by a spread spectrum technique, and optical signal samples that are obtained from additional NCC sources and comprise at least one of the following;
Specification