System and method for providing destination-to-source protection switch setup in optical network topologies
First Claim
1. A method, comprising:
- establishing a protection path for a failed link between first and second nodes in a mesh network, wherein a transfer of information from the first node to the second node is disrupted by the failed link;
establishing an alternate path from the second node to the first node via a destination-to-source communication channel, wherein the destination-to-source communication channel is established through at least one alternate node beginning at the second node and ending at the first node;
determining whether a node of the at least one alternate node has available capacity to allow information from the failed link to be rerouted;
executing a switch function at the node of the at least one alternate node traversed by the destination-to-source communication channel to allow source-to-destination information traffic flow from the first node to the second node along the alternate path defined by the destination-to-source communication channel; and
switching the information traffic flow at the first node from the failed link to the alternate path when the destination-to-source communication channel is established at the first node.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for establishing protection routes in optical mesh networks. A protection protocol is provided that utilizes a destination-to-source communication channel to establish a source-to-destination protection route. The communication channel is established from the node detecting the failed link back towards the transmitting node. As the destination-to-source communication channel is being established back towards the source node, it concurrently directs the nodes along this path to perform switching functions to subsequently allow the information originally intended for transmission via the failed link to be switched to the alternate protection path. Various manners of ascertaining the protection routes are also provided, including predetermined and/or dynamically-generated protection paths established via the destination-to-source communication channel.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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establishing a protection path for a failed link between first and second nodes in a mesh network, wherein a transfer of information from the first node to the second node is disrupted by the failed link; establishing an alternate path from the second node to the first node via a destination-to-source communication channel, wherein the destination-to-source communication channel is established through at least one alternate node beginning at the second node and ending at the first node; determining whether a node of the at least one alternate node has available capacity to allow information from the failed link to be rerouted; executing a switch function at the node of the at least one alternate node traversed by the destination-to-source communication channel to allow source-to-destination information traffic flow from the first node to the second node along the alternate path defined by the destination-to-source communication channel; and switching the information traffic flow at the first node from the failed link to the alternate path when the destination-to-source communication channel is established at the first node. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A network protection configuration, comprising:
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an optical fiber network comprising a plurality of optical network nodes each coupled to transmit and receive optical signals carried on distinct wavelengths on optical fibers of the optical fiber network, and a source node attempting to transmit the optical signals via a failed transmission path and a destination node detecting the failed transmission path; and a communication channel established from the destination node to the source node to transmit a path failure notification, wherein a route established by the destination-to-source communication channel traversing one or more of the optical network nodes defines an alternate transmission path, and wherein the network nodes defining the alternate transmission path are configured to be switched based on available capacity to allow information from the failed transmission path to be rerouted in response to the path failure notification to facilitate source-to-destination transmission of the optical signals from the failed transmission path along the alternate path. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A network protection configuration, comprising:
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an optical fiber network comprising a plurality of optical network nodes each coupled to transmit and receive optical signals carried on distinct wavelengths on optical fibers of the optical fiber network, wherein each of the plurality of optical network nodes comprises; a fiber cross-connect circuit coupled to receive one or more of the optical fibers of the optical fiber network and to switch the optical signals on the optical fibers to particular output ports of the fiber cross-connect to route the optical signals on the optical fibers to targeted optical fibers; an optical cross-connect circuit coupled to receive one or more of the optical signals and to switch the optical signals to particular output ports of the optical cross-connect to route the optical signals to targeted ones of the optical fibers; destination-to-source communication channel established from a destination node detecting a failed transmission path to a source node to transmit a failed path notification, wherein a route established by the destination-to-source communication channel traversing one or more of the optical network nodes defines an alternate transmission path based on available capacity to allow information from the failed transmission path to be rerouted, and wherein the fiber cross-connect and optical cross-connect circuits of the network nodes defining the alternate transmission path are switched in response to the failed path notification to facilitate source-to-destination transmission of the optical signals from the failed transmission path along the alternate path.
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34. A method, comprising:
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establishing a protection path for a failed optical link between a source node and a destination node in an optical wave division multiplexing mesh network, wherein a transfer of optical signals from the source node to the destination node is suspended by the failed optical link; detecting the failed optical link at the destination node by recognizing the loss of optical power at destination node cross-connect ports; transmitting a link failure signal via a communication channel from the destination node detecting the failed link to the source node through at least one alternate node; determining whether a node of the at least one alternate node has available capacity to allow transmission of the suspended optical signals to be rerouted; configuring a cross-connect switch at each of the alternate nodes receiving the link failure signal, comprising cross-connecting input ports to output ports of the cross-connect switch such that a source-to-destination protection path for transmission of the suspended optical signals is established as the link failure signal is transmitted from the destination node to the source node; and switching the suspended optical signals from the failed optical link to the source-to-destination protection path upon receipt of the link failure signal at the source node, wherein the source-to-destination protection path is set up using a destination-to-source communication channel. - View Dependent Claims (35)
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36. A network node, comprising:
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a port configured to receive information from a destination-to-source communication link; a control circuit operably connected to the port and configured to a cross-connect section; and the cross-connect section operably connected to the control circuit and configured to direct network traffic flow between a first node and a second node, wherein the control circuit is configured, upon receipt of the information from a destination-to-source communication link, said information identifying that a protection path for a failed link between the first and the second node is to be established based on available capacity in the protection path, to cause the cross-connect section to execute a switch function to allow source-to-destination information traffic flow along a path defined by the information received from destination-to-source communication channel. - View Dependent Claims (37)
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38. A network node, comprising:
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reception means for receiving information from a destination-to-source communication link; cross-connect means for directing network traffic flow between a first node and a second node, control means, operably connected to the reception means and the cross-connect means, for, upon receipt of the information from a destination-to-source communication link, said information identifying that a protection path for a failed link between the first and the second node is to be established based on available capacity in the protection path, causing the cross-connect section to execute a switch function to allow source-to-destination information traffic flow along a path defined by the information received from destination-to-source communication channel.
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Specification