Port-to-port, non-blocking, scalable optical router architecture and method for routing optical traffic

• US 7,426,210 B1
• Filed: 04/03/2002
• Issued: 09/16/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Mind Fusion, LLC (Ascend Innovation Management, LLC)
• Original Assignee: YT Networks Capital LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Tamil, Lakshman S., Rothrock, Scott A., Miles, Larry L., Aicklen, Gregory H., Posey, Nolan J. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham; Chi H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mew; Kevin
• Application Number:
  US10/115,564
• Time in Patent Office: 2,358 Days
• Field of Search: 370/400, 370/401, 370/402, 370/422, 370/423, 370/427, 370/428, 370/429, 370/430, 370531-545, 398/45, 398/47, 398/49, 398/50
• US Class Current: 370/400
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0223 Conversion to or from optical TDM
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0227 Operation, administration, maintenance or provisioning [OAMP] of WDM networks, e.g. media access, routing or wavelength allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/62 Wavelength based optical switching H04Q11/0062
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0005 Switch and router aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2011/005 Arbitration and scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2011/0084 Quality of service aspects

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention includes a router comprising an ingress edge unit with one or more ports and an egress edge unit with one or more ports connected by a switch fabric. The ingress edge unit can receive optical data and convert the optical data into a plurality of micro lambdas. The ingress edge unit can convert the incoming data to micro lambdas by generating a series of short-term parallel data bursts across multiple wavelengths. The ingress edge unit can also wavelength division multiplex and time domain multiplex each micro lambda for transmission to the switch fabric in a particular order. The switch fabric can receive the plurality of micro lambdas and route the plurality of micro lambdas to the plurality of egress edge units in a non-blocking manner.

Claims

1. A router to be coupled to a plurality of data lines, comprising:

a core controller;

a plurality of egress edge units coupled to said core controller, said plurality of egress edge units including at least one egress port;

a plurality of ingress edge units coupled to said core controller and to communicate with said plurality of egress edge units; and

an optical switch fabric to communicate with the plurality of ingress edge units and egress edge units to receives the plurality of micro lambdas from the plurality of ingress edge units and to route each micro lambda in a non-blocking manner through the optical switch fabric to the egress edge unit associated with the particular destination port for that micro lambda,

wherein each ingress edge unit is to receive optical data, convert the optical data into a plurality of micro lambdas, time wavelength division multiplex each micro lambda and transmit each micro lambda to an egress edge unit;

wherein each micro lambda comprises optical data intended for a particular destination port at one of the plurality of egress edge units;

wherein the plurality of egress edge units are to receive the plurality of micro lambdas and wherein each egress edge unit is to route each micro lambda received at the corresponding egress edge unit to the particular destination port for that micro lambda;

wherein each ingress edge unit is to time wavelength division multiplex each micro lambda at the corresponding ingress edge unit by;

wavelength division multiplexing each micro lambda at the corresponding ingress edge unit; and

rearranging the micro lambdas at the corresponding ingress edge unit in the time domain for transmission according to a particular schedule;

wherein the core controller is to establish a schedule pattern for time domain multiplexing of micro lambdas to control the arrival of each of the plurality of micro lambdas at the optical switch fabric so as to avoid blocking at the optical switch fabric; and

wherein the core controller comprises;

a switch controller to communicate with the optical switch fabric; and

a core scheduler to communicate with the switch controller and to communicate with each of the plurality of ingress edge units via a plurality of control links;

wherein said core scheduler is to monitor the plurality of ingress edge units to determine a scheduling pattern for each of the plurality of ingress edge units, wherein the scheduling pattern is to cause each ingress edge unit to transmit micro lambdas to the optical switch fabric so that no two micro lambdas destined for a single egress edge unit arrive at the optical switch fabric during an identical switching time interval; and

wherein the switch controller is to create a unique path through the optical switch fabric for each micro lambda arriving at the optical switch fabric during the identical switching time interval.

2. The router of claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of ingress micro lambda links, wherein each micro lambda link is to connect one of the plurality of ingress edge units to the optical switch fabric;

a plurality of egress micro lambda links, wherein each micro lambda link is to connect one of the plurality of edge units to the optical switch fabric; and

wherein the plurality of micro lambdas to be created at the plurality of ingress edge units are to be transmitted to the optical switch fabric over the plurality of ingress micro lambda links and further wherein the plurality of micro lambdas are to be transmitted to the plurality of egress edge units from the optical switch fabric over the plurality of egress micro lambda links.

5. The router of claim 1, wherein each ingress edge unit is operable to:

segregate incoming optical data into a plurality of subflows, wherein each subflow contains data destined for a particular destination port;

generate a micro lambda from each subflow created at the corresponding ingress edge unit by converting each subflow into a parallel burst of data across multiple wavelengths;

time domain multiplex each micro lambda generated at the corresponding ingress edge unit according to a schedule pattern received from the core controller;

wavelength multiplex each micro lambda generated at the corresponding ingress edge unit; and

transmit each micro lambda generated at the corresponding ingress edge unit to the switch fabric according to the schedule pattern.

10. The router of claim 1, wherein each egress edge unit is operable to:

receive micro lambdas destined for an egress port at the corresponding egress edge unit;

demultiplex the received micro lambdas in the time and wavelength domains;

convert each received micro lambda into a subflow; and

concatenate each received subflow at the corresponding egress edge unit into a continuous outgoing data stream.

3. A router to be coupled to a plurality of data lines, comprising:

a core controller;

a plurality of egress edge units coupled to said core controller, said plurality of egress edge units including at least one egress port;

a plurality of ingress edge units coupled to said core controller and to communicate with said plurality of egress edge units; and

an optical switch fabric to communicate with the plurality of ingress edge units and egress edge units to receives the plurality of micro lambdas from the plurality of ingress edge units and to route each micro lambda in a non-blocking manner through the optical switch fabric to the egress edge unit associated with the particular destination port for that micro lambda;

a plurality of ingress micro lambda links, wherein each micro lambda link is to connect one of the plurality of ingress edge units to the optical switch fabric;

a plurality of egress micro lambda links, wherein each micro lambda link is to connect one of the plurality of edge units to the optical switch fabric;

wherein each ingress edge unit is to receive optical data, convert the optical data into a plurality of micro lambdas, time wavelength division multiplex each micro lambda and transmit each micro lambda to an egress edge unit;

wherein each micro lambda comprises optical data intended for a particular destination port at one of the plurality of egress edge units;

wherein the plurality of egress edge units are to receive the plurality of micro lambdas and wherein each egress edge unit is to route each micro lambda received at the corresponding egress edge unit to the particular destination port for that micro lambda;

wherein each ingress edge unit is to time wavelength division multiplex each micro lambda at the corresponding ingress edge unit by;

wavelength division multiplexing each micro lambda at the corresponding ingress edge unit; and

rearranging the micro lambdas at the corresponding ingress edge unit in the time domain for transmission according to a particular schedule;

wherein the core controller is to establish a schedule pattern for time domain multiplexing of micro lambdas to control the arrival of each of the plurality of micro lambdas at the optical switch fabric so as to avoid blocking at the optical switch fabric;

wherein the plurality of micro lambdas to be created at the plurality of ingress edge units are to be transmitted to the optical switch fabric over the plurality of ingress micro lambda links and further wherein the plurality of micro lambdas are to be transmitted to the plurality of egress edge units from the optical switch fabric over the plurality of egress micro lambda links; and

the router further comprising;

a plurality of ingress control links, wherein each ingress control link is to connect an ingress edge unit to the core controller;

a plurality of egress control links, wherein each egress control link is to connect an egress edge unit to the core controller; and

wherein the core controller is to receive a plurality of pattern data from the plurality of ingress edge units that the core controller is to use to establish a pattern to be used to route the plurality of micro lambdas from the plurality of ingress edge units to the plurality of egress edge units.

4. The router of claim 3, wherein the core controller is to monitor a plurality of synchronization data at the plurality of ingress edge units via the ingress control data links and at the plurality of egress edge units via the egress control data links to synchronize data flow through the router;

and

wherein the core controller is to monitor a plurality of time information at each of the plurality of egress edge units via the egress control data links to verify data intended for each egress edge unit arrives at an appropriate time.

6. A router to be coupled to a plurality of data lines, comprising:

a core controller;

a plurality of egress edge units coupled to said core controller, said plurality of egress edge units including at least one egress port;

a plurality of ingress edge units coupled to said core controller and to communicate with said plurality of egress edge units; and

an optical switch fabric to communicate with the plurality of ingress edge units and egress edge units to receives the plurality of micro lambdas from the plurality of ingress edge units and to route each micro lambda in a non-blocking manner through the optical switch fabric to the egress edge unit associated with the particular destination port for that micro lambda,

wherein each ingress edge unit is to receive optical data, convert the optical data into a plurality of micro lambdas, time wavelength division multiplex each micro lambda and transmit each micro lambda to an egress edge unit;

wherein each micro lambda comprises optical data intended for a particular destination port at one of the plurality of egress edge units;

wherein the plurality of egress edge units are to receive the plurality of micro lambdas and wherein each egress edge unit is to route each micro lambda received at the corresponding egress edge unit to the particular destination port for that micro lambda;

wherein each ingress edge unit is to time wavelength division multiplex each micro lambda at the corresponding ingress edge unit by;

wavelength division multiplexing each micro lambda at the corresponding ingress edge unit; and

rearranging the micro lambdas at the corresponding ingress edge unit in the time domain for transmission according to a particular schedule;

wherein the core controller is to establish a schedule pattern for time domain multiplexing of micro lambdas to control the arrival of each of the plurality of micro lambdas at the optical switch fabric so as to avoid blocking at the optical switch fabric; and

wherein each ingress edge unit further comprises;

a plurality of ingress ports;

an ingress interface associated with each ingress port, each ingress interface operable to segregate incoming optical data into a plurality of subflows, wherein each subflow contains data intended for a particular destination port; and

a TWDM multiplexer operable to;

receive subflows from each of the ingress interfaces at the corresponding ingress edge unit;

generate a micro lambda from each received subflow;

time multiplex each micro lambda at the corresponding ingress edge unit according to a schedule pattern received from the core controller;

wavelength multiplex each micro lambda at the corresponding ingress edge unit; and

transmit each micro lambda at the corresponding ingress edge unit to the switch fabric according to the schedule pattern.

7. A router to be coupled to a plurality of data lines, comprising:

a core controller;

a plurality of egress edge units coupled to said core controller, said plurality of egress edge units including at least one egress port;

a plurality of ingress edge units coupled to said core controller and to communicate with said plurality of egress edge units; and

an optical switch fabric to communicate with the plurality of ingress edge units and egress edge units to receives the plurality of micro lambdas from the plurality of ingress edge units and to route each micro lambda in a non-blocking manner through the optical switch fabric to the egress edge unit associated with the particular destination port for that micro lambda,

wherein each ingress edge unit is to receive optical data, convert the optical data into a plurality of micro lambdas, time wavelength division multiplex each micro lambda and transmit each micro lambda to an egress edge unit;

wherein each micro lambda comprises optical data intended for a particular destination port at one of the plurality of egress edge units;

wherein the plurality of egress edge units are to receive the plurality of micro lambdas and wherein each egress edge unit is to route each micro lambda received at the corresponding egress edge unit to the particular destination port for that micro lambda;

wherein each ingress edge unit is to time wavelength division multiplex each micro lambda at the corresponding ingress edge unit by;

wavelength division multiplexing each micro lambda at the corresponding ingress edge unit; and

rearranging the micro lambdas at the corresponding ingress edge unit in the time domain for transmission according to a particular schedule;

wherein the core controller is to establish a schedule pattern for time domain multiplexing of micro lambdas to control the arrival of each of the plurality of micro lambdas at the optical switch fabric so as to avoid blocking at the optical switch fabric; and

wherein each ingress edge unit further comprises;

a plurality of ingress ports;

an ingress interface associated with each ingress port, each ingress interface further comprising;

a framer operable to read overhead data from an incoming data stream;

a classifier operable to segregate data from the incoming data stream based on quality of service parameters;

a quality of service queue operable to buffer incoming data according to quality of service;

a plurality of input buffers, each input buffer capable of buffering a subflow worth of data to create a subflow;

a TWDM multiplexer operable to receive subflows from the input buffers at the corresponding ingress interface and time multiplex the received subflows;

a port scheduler to receive a port scheduling pattern from the core scheduler and to coordinate the creation and time domain multiplexing of subflows at the corresponding ingress interface;

a TWDM converter operable to receive subflows from each ingress interface at the corresponding ingress edge unit, generate a micro lambda from each subflow at edge unit, and time multiplex each micro lambda at the corresponding edge unit;

a DWDM multiplexer operable to;

receive micro lambdas from the TWDM converter at the corresponding ingress edge unit and wavelength multiplex each micro lambda received from the TWDM converter; and

transmit each micro lambda at the corresponding ingress edge unit to the optical switch fabric via a micro lambda link; and

an edge scheduler to receive an edge scheduling pattern from the core controller and to coordinate the generation and time domain multiplexing of micro lambdas at the corresponding ingress edge unit.

8. The router of claim 7, wherein each ingress interface further comprises an OC-192 router.

9. The router of claim 8, wherein each subflow contains approximately 311 Mbps of data.

11. A router to be coupled to a plurality of data lines, comprising:

a core controller;

a plurality of egress edge units coupled to said core controller, said plurality of egress edge units including at least one egress port;

a plurality of ingress edge units coupled to said core controller and to communicate with said plurality of egress edge units; and

an optical switch fabric to communicate with the plurality of ingress edge units and egress edge units to receives the plurality of micro lambdas from the plurality of ingress edge units and to route each micro lambda in a non-blocking manner through the optical switch fabric to the egress edge unit associated with the particular destination port for that micro lambda,

wherein each ingress edge unit is to receive optical data, convert the optical data into a plurality of micro lambdas, time wavelength division multiplex each micro lambda and transmit each micro lambda to an egress edge unit;

wherein each micro lambda comprises optical data intended for a particular destination port at one of the plurality of egress edge units;

wherein the plurality of egress edge units are to receive the plurality of micro lambdas and wherein each egress edge unit is to route each micro lambda received at the corresponding egress edge unit to the particular destination port for that micro lambda;

wherein each ingress edge unit is to time wavelength division multiplex each micro lambda at the corresponding ingress edge unit by;

wavelength division multiplexing each micro lambda at the corresponding ingress edge unit; and

rearranging the micro lambdas at the corresponding ingress edge unit in the time domain for transmission according to a particular schedule;

wherein the core controller is to establish a schedule pattern for time domain multiplexing of micro lambdas to control the arrival of each of the plurality of micro lambdas at the optical switch fabric so as to avoid blocking at the optical switch fabric; and

wherein each egress edge unit further comprises;

a DWDM demultiplexer operable to receive and wavelength demultiplex arriving micro lambdas destined for an egress port at the corresponding egress edge unit;

a TWDM converter operable to receive micro lambdas from the DWDM demultiplexer at the corresponding egress edge unit, convert each micro lambda into a subflow and forward each subflow to an egress interface associated with the particular destination port for the data in the subflow;

an edge scheduler operable to coordinate the forwarding of each subflow to the appropriate egress interface; and

an egress interface associated with each egress port further comprising;

a TWDM demultiplexer operable to receive subflows destined for the associated egress port and time demultiplex the subflows;

a set of output buffers operable to buffer the subflows at the corresponding egress interface and forward the subflows to the associated egress port as an outgoing data stream; and

a port scheduler operable to coordinate time demultiplexing and buffering of subflows at the corresponding egress interface.

12. The router of claim 11, wherein each egress interface further comprises:

a framer operable to insert SONET frames in the outgoing data stream; and

a traffic manager operable to perform burst smoothing on the outgoing data stream.

13. A router to be coupled to a plurality of data lines, comprising:

a core controller;

a plurality of egress edge units coupled to said core controller, said plurality of egress edge units including at least one egress port;

a plurality of ingress edge units coupled to said core controller and to communicate with said plurality of egress edge units; and

an optical switch fabric to communicate with the plurality of ingress edge units and egress edge units to receives the plurality of micro lambdas from the plurality of ingress edge units and to route each micro lambda in a non-blocking manner through the optical switch fabric to the egress edge unit associated with the particular destination port for that micro lambda,

wherein each ingress edge unit is to receive optical data, convert the optical data into a plurality of micro lambdas, time wavelength division multiplex each micro lambda and transmit each micro lambda to an egress edge unit;

wherein each micro lambda comprises optical data intended for a particular destination port at one of the plurality of egress edge units;

wherein the plurality of egress edge units are to receive the plurality of micro lambdas and wherein each egress edge unit is to route each micro lambda received at the corresponding egress edge unit to the particular destination port for that micro lambda;

wherein each ingress edge unit is to time wavelength division multiplex each micro lambda at the corresponding ingress edge unit by;

wavelength division multiplexing each micro lambda at the corresponding ingress edge unit; and

rearranging the micro lambdas at the corresponding ingress edge unit in the time domain for transmission according to a particular schedule;

wherein the core controller is to establish a schedule pattern for time domain multiplexing of micro lambdas to control the arrival of each of the plurality of micro lambdas at the optical switch fabric so as to avoid blocking at the optical switch fabric; and

wherein each micro lambda is to be routed using slot deflection routing to route each micro lambda from an ingress edge unit to an egress edge unit.

14. The router of claim 13, wherein each ingress edge unit is collocated with an egress edge unit to form an integrated edge unit.

15. A router coupled to a plurality of data lines, comprising:

a core controller;

a plurality of egress edge units coupled to said core controller, said plurality of egress edge units including at least one egress port; and

a plurality of ingress edge units coupled to said core controller and in communication with said plurality of egress edge units,

wherein each ingress edge unit receives optical data, converts the optical data into a plurality of micro lambdas, time wavelength division multiplexes each micro lambda and transmits each micro lambda to an egress edge unit;

wherein each micro lambda comprises optical data intended for a particular destination port at one of the plurality of egress edge units; and

wherein the plurality of egress edge units receives the plurality of micro lambdas and wherein each egress edge unit routes micro lambdas received at the corresponding egress edge unit to the particular destination port for that micro lambda; and

wherein each ingress edge unit is operable to;

segregate incoming optical data into a plurality of subflows, wherein each subflow contains data destined for a particular destination port; and

generate a micro lambda from each subflow created at the corresponding ingress edge unit by converting each subflow into a parallel burst of data across multiple wavelengths.

16. The router of claim 15, wherein each egress edge unit is operable to:

receive micro lambdas destined for an egress port at the corresponding egress edge unit;

demultiplex the received micro lambdas in the time and wavelength domains;

convert each received micro lambda into a subflow; and

concatenate each received subflow at the corresponding egress edge unit into a continuous outgoing data stream.

17. A router coupled to a plurality of data lines, comprising:

a core controller;

a plurality of egress edge units coupled to said core controller, said plurality of egress edge units including at least one egress port; and

a plurality of ingress edge units coupled to said core controller and in communication with said plurality of egress edge units,

wherein each ingress edge unit receives optical data, converts the optical data into a plurality of micro lambdas, time wavelength division multiplexes each micro lambda and transmits each micro lambda to an egress edge unit;

wherein each micro lambda comprises optical data intended for a particular destination port at one of the plurality of egress edge units; and

wherein the plurality of egress edge units receives the plurality of micro lambdas and wherein each egress edge unit routes micro lambdas received at the corresponding egress edge unit to the particular destination port for that micro lambda; and

wherein each ingress edge unit further comprises;

a plurality of ingress ports;

an ingress interface associated with each ingress port, each ingress interface further comprising;

a framer operable to read overhead data from an incoming data stream˜

a classifier operable to segregate data from the incoming data stream based on quality of service parameters;

a quality of service queue operable to buffer incoming data according to quality of service;

a plurality of input buffers, each input buffer capable of buffering a subflow worth of data to create a subflow;

a TWDM multiplexer operable to receive subflows from the input buffers at the corresponding ingress interface and time multiplex the received subflows;

a port scheduler to coordinate the creation and time domain multiplexing of subflows at the corresponding ingress interface;

a TWDM converter operable to receive subflows from each ingress interface at the corresponding ingress edge unit, generate a micro lambda from each subflow at edge unit, and time multiplex each micro lambda at the corresponding edge unit;

a DWDM multiplexer operable to;

receive micro lambdas from the TWDM converter at the corresponding ingress edge unit and wavelength multiplex each micro lambda received from the TWDM converter; and

transmit each micro lambda to the egress edge unit associated with the particular destination port for that micro lambda; and

an edge scheduler to coordinate the generation and time domain multiplexing of micro lambdas at the corresponding ingress edge unit.

18. A router coupled to a plurality of data lines, comprising:

a core controller;

a plurality of egress edge units coupled to said core controller, said plurality of egress edge units including at least one egress port; and

a plurality of ingress edge units coupled to said core controller and in communication with said plurality of egress edge units,

wherein each ingress edge unit receives optical data, converts the optical data into a plurality of micro lambdas, time wavelength division multiplexes each micro lambda and transmits each micro lambda to an egress edge unit;

wherein each micro lambda comprises optical data intended for a particular destination port at one of the plurality of egress edge units; and

wherein the plurality of egress edge units receives the plurality of micro lambdas and wherein each egress edge unit routes micro lambdas received at the corresponding egress edge unit to the particular destination port for that micro lambda; and

wherein each ingress edge unit is further operable to;

generate a plurality of subflows from the optical data;

rearrange the subflows in the time domain according to a particular schedule;

convert each subflow at the corresponding ingress edge unit into a micro lambda;

wavelength division multiplex each micro lambda at the corresponding ingress edge unit; and

transmit each micro lambda at the corresponding ingress edge unit according to the particular schedule.

19. A router for routing optical data, comprising:

a core controller;

an egress edge unit coupled to said core controller and comprising a plurality of egress edge ports;

an ingress edge unit coupled to said core controller and comprising a plurality of ingress edge ports; and

an optical switch fabric to communicate with the ingress edge unit and egress edge unit and to receive the plurality of micro lambdas from the ingress edge unit and to route each micro lambda in a non-blocking manner through the optical switch fabric to the egress edge unit;

wherein the ingress edge unit is to segregate incoming optical data at each of the ingress edge ports into a plurality of subflows, each subflow containing data destined for a particular egress edge port, to convert each subflow into a micro lambda, to time wavelength division multiplex each micro lambda and to transmit each micro lambda;

wherein the egress edge unit is to receive each micro lambda from the ingress edge unit, to time and wavelength demultiplex each micro lambda, to convert each micro lambda back into the corresponding subflow, to forward each subflow to the particular egress edge port to which that subflow is destined and to output the subflows as a data stream;

wherein the ingress edge unit is to time wavelength division multiplex each micro lambda by;

time domain multiplexing each micro lambda by transmitting each micro lambda in a particular wave slot according to a schedule pattern; and

wavelength division multiplexing each micro lambda;

wherein the core controller is to establish a schedule pattern for time domain multiplexing of micro lambdas to control the arrival of each of the plurality of micro lambdas at the optical switch fabric so as to avoid blocking at the optical switch fabric; and

wherein the ingress edge unit further comprises;

an ingress interface associated with each ingress edge port, each ingress interface operable to segregate incoming optical data into at least a portion of the plurality subflows; and

a TWDM multiplexer operable to;

receive the plurality of subflows from the ingress interfaces;

generate a micro lambda from each received subflow;

wavelength multiplex each micro lambda; and

transmit each micro lambda to the switch fabric in the particular wave slot according to a schedule pattern.

20. A router for routing optical data, comprising:

a core controller;

an egress edge unit coupled to said core controller and comprising a plurality of egress edge ports;

an ingress edge unit coupled to said core controller and comprising a plurality of ingress edge ports; and

an optical switch fabric to communicate with the ingress edge unit and egress edge unit and to receive the plurality of micro lambdas from the ingress edge unit and to route each micro lambda in a non-blocking manner through the optical switch fabric to the egress edge unit;

wherein the ingress edge unit is to segregate incoming optical data at each of the ingress edge ports into a plurality of subflows, each subflow containing data destined for a particular egress edge port, to convert each subflow into a micro lambda, to time wavelength division multiplex each micro lambda and to transmit each micro lambda;

wherein the egress edge unit is to receive each micro lambda from the ingress edge unit, to time and wavelength demultiplex each micro lambda, to convert each micro lambda back into the corresponding subflow, to forward each subflow to the particular egress edge port to which that subflow is destined and to output the subflows as a data stream;

wherein the ingress edge unit is to time wavelength division multiplex each micro lambda by;

time domain multiplexing each micro lambda by transmitting each micro lambda in a particular wave slot according to a schedule pattern; and

wavelength division multiplexing each micro lambda;

wherein the core controller is to establish a schedule pattern for time domain multiplexing of micro lambdas to control the arrival of each of the plurality of micro lambdas at the optical switch fabric so as to avoid blocking at the optical switch fabric; and

wherein the ingress edge unit further comprises;

an ingress interface associated with each ingress port, each ingress interface further comprising;

a framer operable to read overhead data from an incoming data stream

a classifier operable to segregate data from the incoming data stream based on quality of service;

a quality of service queue operable to buffer incoming data;

a plurality of input buffers that buffer data to create a subflow for each input buffer;

a TWDM multiplexer to receive subflows from the input buffers at the corresponding ingress interface and to time multiplex the received subflows; and

a port scheduler that receives a port scheduling pattern from the core scheduler and coordinates the creation and time domain multiplexing of subflows at the corresponding ingress interface;

a TWDM converter to receive the plurality of subflows from each ingress interface, generate a micro lambda from each subflow, and time multiplex the micro lambdas;

a DWDM multiplexer to receive the micro lambdas from the TWDM converter, wavelength multiplex each received micro lambda and transmit each micro lambda during the particular wave slot for that micro lambda; and

an edge scheduler to receive an edge scheduling pattern from the core controller and coordinate the generation, time domain multiplexing and transmission of the micro lambdas.

21. A router for routing optical data, comprising:

a core controller;

an egress edge unit coupled to said core controller and comprising a plurality of egress edge ports; and

an ingress edge unit coupled to said core controller and comprising a plurality of ingress edge ports,

wherein the ingress edge unit is to segregate incoming optical data at each of the ingress edge ports into a plurality of subflows, each subflow containing data destined for a particular egress edge port, to convert each subflow into a micro lambda, to time wavelength division multiplex each micro lambda and to transmit each micro lambda;

wherein the egress edge unit is to receive each micro lambda from the ingress edge unit, to time and wavelength demultiplex each micro lambda, to convert each micro lambda back into the corresponding subflow, to forward each subflow to the particular egress edge port to which that subflow is destined and to output the subflows as a data stream, and

wherein the egress edge unit further comprises;

a DWDM demultiplexer to receive and to wavelength demultiplex arriving micro lambdas;

a TWDM converter to receive micro lambdas from the DWDM demultiplexer, convert each micro lambda into a subflow and forward each subflow to an egress interface unit associated with the particular egress port to which that subflow is destined;

an edge scheduler to coordinate the forwarding of each subflow to the appropriate egress interface; and

an egress interface associated with each egress port, each egress interface further comprising;

a TWDM demultiplexer to receive subflows destined for the associated egress port and to time demultiplex the subflows received at the corresponding egress interface; and

a set of output buffers to buffer the subflows at the corresponding egress interface and forward the subflows to the associated egress port as an outgoing data stream; and

a port scheduler to coordinate time demultiplexing and buffering of subflows at the corresponding egress interface.

22. A router for routing optical data, comprising:

a core controller;

an egress edge unit coupled to said core controller and comprising a plurality of egress edge ports; and

an ingress edge unit coupled to said core controller and comprising a plurality of ingress edge ports,

wherein the ingress edge unit is to segregate incoming optical data at each of the ingress edge ports into a plurality of subflows, each subflow containing data destined for a particular egress edge port, to convert each subflow into a micro lambda, to time wavelength division multiplex each micro lambda and to transmit each micro lambda;

wherein the egress edge unit is to receive each micro lambda from the ingress edge unit, to time and wavelength demultiplex each micro lambda, to convert each micro lambda back into the corresponding subflow, to forward each subflow to the particular egress edge port to which that subflow is destined and to output the subflows as a data stream, and

wherein the core controller comprises;

a switch controller to communicate with the optical switch fabric; and

a core scheduler to communicate with the switch controller and to communicate with each of the plurality of ingress edge units via a plurality of control links; and

wherein said core scheduler is to monitor a plurality of ingress edge units to determine a scheduling pattern for each of the plurality of ingress edge units, wherein the scheduling pattern is to cause each ingress edge unit to transmit micro lambdas to the optical switch fabric so that no two micro lambdas destined for the egress edge unit arrive at the optical switch fabric during an identical switching time interval; and

wherein the switch controller is to create a unique path through the optical switch fabric for each micro lambda arriving at the optical switch fabric during the identical switching time interval.

23. The router of claim 22, wherein the ingress edge unit is to time wavelength division multiplex each micro lambda by:

time domain multiplexing each micro lambda by transmitting each micro lambda in a particular wave slot according to a schedule pattern; and

wavelength division multiplexing each micro lambda.

24. The router of claim 23, further comprising:

an optical switch fabric to communicate with the ingress edge unit and egress edge unit and to receive the plurality of micro lambdas from the ingress edge unit and to route each micro lambda in a non-blocking manner through the optical switch fabric to the egress edge unit;

wherein the core controller is to establish a schedule pattern for time domain multiplexing of micro lambdas to control the arrival of each of the plurality of micro lambdas at the optical switch fabric so as to avoid blocking at the optical switch fabric.

25. A router for routing optical data, comprising:

a core controller;

an egress edge unit coupled to said core controller and comprising a plurality of egress edge ports; and

an ingress edge unit coupled to said core controller and comprising a plurality of ingress edge ports;

a switch fabric to receive each micro lambda from the ingress edge unit and route each micro lambda to the egress edge unit in a non-blocking manner; and

a core controller to control the arrival of micro lambdas at the switch fabric in such a manner that each micro lambda flows from the ingress edge unit, through the switch fabric, to the egress edge unit without blocking;

wherein the ingress edge unit is to segregate incoming optical data at each of the ingress edge ports into a plurality of subflows with each subflow containing data destined for a particular egress edge port, to time multiplex each subflow, to convert each subflow into a micro lambda, to wavelength multiplex each micro lambda and to transmit each micro lambda in a particular wave slot;

wherein the egress edge unit is to receive each micro lambda from the ingress edge unit, to time and wavelength demultiplex each micro lambda, to convert each micro lambda back into the corresponding subflow, and to output the subflows as a continuous data stream; and

wherein the core controller comprises;

a switch controller to communicate with the optical switch fabric;

wherein the core scheduler is communicatively coupled to the switch controller and each of the plurality of ingress edge units via a plurality of control links; and

wherein said core scheduler is to monitor a plurality of ingress edge units to determine a scheduling pattern for each of the plurality of ingress edge units, wherein the scheduling pattern is to cause each ingress edge unit to transmit micro lambdas to the optical switch fabric so that no two micro lambdas destined for the egress edge unit arrive at the optical switch fabric during an identical switching time interval; and

wherein the switch controller is to create a unique path through the optical switch fabric for each micro lambda arriving at the optical switch fabric during the identical switching time interval.

26. A method of routing optical data comprising:

receiving an incoming optical data stream;

segregating the incoming data stream into a plurality of subflows, wherein each subflow is destined for a particular egress port;

generating a micro lambda from each subflow by converting each subflow into a parallel data burst across multiple wavelengths, wherein each micro lambda contains a subflow'"'"'s worth of data;

wavelength multiplexing each micro lambda;

time domain multiplexing each micro lambda; and

transmitting each micro lambda to an egress edge unit according to a particular schedule established by a core controller monitoring the incoming optical data stream; and

developing a schedule pattern of wave slots such that no two micro lambdas destined for the same egress edge unit arrive at a switch fabric at the same time.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

time and wavelength demultiplexing each micro lambda;

converting each micro lambda into the associated subflow; and

transmitting an associated subflow to the particular destination port for which that associated subflow is destined.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising performing burst smoothing at each egress port to create a continuous outgoing data stream.

29. The method of claim 26, further comprising routing each micro lambda through an optical switch fabric in a non-blocking manner.

30. The method of claim 26, wherein time domain multiplexing further comprises rearranging each micro lambda in the time domain according to the particular schedule.

31. The method of claim 26, wherein time domain multiplexing further comprises rearranging each subflow within the time domain according to the particular schedule.

32. A method of routing optical data comprising:

receiving an incoming optical data stream;

segregating the incoming data stream into a plurality of subflows, wherein each subflow is destined for a particular egress port;

generating a micro lambda from each subflow by converting each subflow into a parallel data burst across multiple wavelengths wherein each micro lambda contains a subflow'"'"'s worth of data;

wavelength multiplexing each micro lambda;

time domain multiplexing each micro lambda; and

transmitting each micro lambda to an egress edge unit according to a particular schedule established by a core controller monitoring the incoming optical data stream; and

routing at least one micro lambda through a non-destination egress edge unit prior to routing the at least one micro lambda to a destination egress edge unit.