Optical architecture and channel plan employing multi-fiber configurations for data center network switching

• US 9,065,582 B2
• Filed: 06/20/2012
• Issued: 06/23/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Plexxi, Inc. (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Inventors: Barry, Richard A., Husak, David J., Spock, Derek E., Morgan, Matthew William, Everdell, Peter B., Li, Ruoding
• Primary Examiner(s): Vanderpuye, Ken
• Assistant Examiner(s): SANCHEZ, DIBSON J
• Application Number:
  US13/528,501
• Publication Number:
  US 20120321309A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,098 Days
• Field of Search: 398 43-103, 370351-430
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/275 Ring-type networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/00 Optical multiplex systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0206 Express channels arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/021 Reconfigurable arrangements, e.g. reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers [ROADM] or tunable optical add/drop multiplexers [TOADM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0213 Groups of channels or wave bands arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0217 Multi-degree architectures, e.g. having a connection degree greater than two
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/022 For interconnection of WDM optical networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0228 Wavelength allocation for communications one-to-all, e.g. broadcasting wavelengths
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0238 Wavelength allocation for communications one-to-many, e.g. multicasting wavelengths
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0267 Optical signaling or routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0269 using tables for routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0275 using an optical service channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0283 WDM ring architectures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/18 for broadcast or conference , e.g. multicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/745 Address table lookup; Address filtering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/351 for local area network [LAN], e.g. Ethernet switches
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/14 Two-way operation using the same type of signal, i.e. duplex
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0005 Switch and router aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2011/0037 Operation

Abstract

Data center network architectures, systems, and methods that can reduce the cost and complexity of data center networks. Such data center network architectures, systems, and methods employ physical optical ring network and multi-dimensional network topologies and optical nodes to efficiently allocate bandwidth within the data center networks, while reducing the physical interconnectivity requirements of the data center networks. The respective optical nodes can be configured to provide various switching topologies, including, but not limited to, chordal ring switching topologies and multi-dimensional chordal ring switching topologies.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

at least one optical node,

wherein the optical node includes;

at least one pair of optical ports including a first optical port and a second optical port, the first optical port including a plurality of separate optical inputs arranged in a predetermined sequence and identified as inputs 1 to N, the second optical port including a plurality of separate optical outputs arranged in the predetermined sequence and identified as outputs 1 to N;

a plurality of optical connections on each of the first optical port and the second optical port, the plurality of optical connections including a first optical connection connected to input 1 of the first optical port, a second optical connection connected to output N of the second optical port, and a plurality of optical connection paths connected between input 2 to input N of the first optical port and output 1 to output N−

1 of the second optical port, respectively;

an electrical switch;

at least one optical transmitter operative to receive at least one first electrical signal from the electrical switch, and to provide at least one first optical signal on a specified wavelength w corresponding to the at least one first electrical signal;

a first optical multiplexer operative to receive the at least one first optical signal on the specified wavelength w from the at least one optical transmitter, and to add the at least one first optical signal to a first selected one of the plurality of optical connections connected to a specified output k of the second optical port, wherein 1≦

k≦

N;

a first optical de-multiplexer operative to drop at least one second optical signal on the specified wavelength w from a second selected one of the plurality of optical connections connected to a specified input j of the first optical port, wherein 1≦

j≦

k; and

at least one optical receiver operative to provide at least one second electrical signal corresponding to the at least one second optical signal to the electrical switch.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the optical node further includes:

an electrical packet switch implemented as the electrical switch;

at least a second optical transmitter operative to receive at least one third electrical signal from the packet switch, and to provide at least one third optical signal on the specified wavelength w corresponding to the at least one third electrical signal;

a second optical multiplexer operative to receive the at least one third optical signal on the specified wavelength w from the at least second optical transmitter, and to add the at least one third optical signal on the specified wavelength w to a third selected one of the plurality of optical connections connected to a specified output k′

of the second optical port, wherein 1≦

k′

≦

N;

a second optical de-multiplexer operative to drop at least one fourth optical signal on the specified wavelength w from a fourth selected one of the plurality of optical connections connected to a specified input j′

of the first optical port, wherein 1≦

j′

≦

k′

; and

at least a second optical receiver operative to provide at least one fourth electrical signal corresponding to the at least one fourth optical signal to the packet switch,

wherein k′

≦

j−

1 or j′

≦

k+1.

3. The system of claim 2:

wherein k′

=j −

1;

wherein the third selected optical connection corresponds to the second selected optical connection; and

wherein the second optical multiplexer is disposed between the first optical de-multiplexer and the second optical port on the third selected optical connection.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein the first optical de-multiplexer and the second optical multiplexer are implemented in a single device.

5. The system of claim 2:

wherein j′

=k+1;

wherein the fourth selected optical connection corresponds to the first selected optical connection; and

wherein the first optical multiplexer is disposed between the second optical de-multiplexer and the second optical port on the first selected optical connection.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the first optical multiplexer and the second optical de-multiplexer are implemented in a single device.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one optical node comprises a plurality of optical nodes, the plurality of optical nodes being interconnected in a predetermined optical node arrangement, the predetermined optical node arrangement including a physical topology and a base switching topology.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the physical topology is a multi-fiber ring network, wherein the base switching topology is a chordal ring network, wherein the plurality of optical nodes include at least one first optical node and at least one second optical node, wherein the first and second optical nodes include ports that are not physically connected to one another on the physical topology, and wherein the base switching topology includes at least one chord disposed between at least the first and second optical nodes.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the base switching topology is a full mesh network.

10. The system of claim 8:

wherein the plurality of optical nodes include M optical nodes, wherein each optical node is designated as an optical node m, wherein “

m”

ranges from 0 to M−

1, wherein the chordal ring network includes a plurality of chords including variable chord lengths, wherein each chord length is designated as r_h, wherein “

h”

ranges from 1 to C, and wherein “

M” and

“

C”

are positive integers; and

wherein the electrical switch included in the optical node m is connected to the electrical switch included in each of an optical node m+r_c (mod M) and an optical node m−

r_c (mod M) with a multiplicity of s_c chords, wherein s_c>

1, and wherein “

c”

ranges from 1 to C.

11. The system of claim 8 wherein the electrical switch is an electrical packet switch, and at least some of the plurality of optical nodes include an electrical circuit switch operatively coupled between the packet switch and a plurality of optical receivers and optical transmitters.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the circuit switch is directly communicably coupleable to at least one externally connected device.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein the circuit switch included in at least one of the plurality of optical nodes is configured to modify the at least one chord to produce a resultant switching topology different from the base switching topology.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the at least one chord includes a plurality of chords, wherein the circuit switch included in at least one of the plurality of optical nodes is configured to effectively combine at least two of the plurality of chords to produce at least one additional chord including an increased chord length in the resultant switching topology.

15. The system of claim 7 wherein the physical topology is a q-dimensional torus network, wherein the base switching topology is a q-dimensional chordal ring network, wherein the plurality of optical nodes include at least one first optical node and at least one second optical node, aligned in a dimension of the q-dimensional torus network, including ports that are not physically connected to one another on the q-dimensional torus network, wherein the q-dimensional chordal ring network includes at least one chord disposed between at least the first and second optical nodes, and wherein “

q”

is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the electrical switch is an electrical packet switch, and at least some of the plurality of optical nodes include an electrical circuit switch operatively coupled between the packet switch and a plurality of optical receivers and optical transmitters.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the circuit switch is directly communicably coupleable to at least one externally connected device.

18. The system of claim 16 wherein the circuit switch included in at least one of the plurality of optical nodes is configured to modify the at least one chord to produce a resultant switching topology different from the base switching topology.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the at least one chord includes a plurality of chords, wherein the circuit switch included in at least one of the plurality of optical nodes is configured to effectively combine at least two of the plurality of chords to produce at least one additional chord including an increased chord length in the resultant switching topology.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the plurality of optical nodes further include a third optical node and a fourth optical node, wherein the third optical node and the fourth optical node include ports that are not physically connected to one another on the q-dimensional torus network, wherein the third optical node and the fourth optical node are non-aligned in any dimension of the q-dimensional torus network, and wherein the at least one additional chord that includes the increased chord length is operative to connect the respective packet switches included in the third and fourth optical nodes.

21. The system of claim 15 wherein the q-dimensional chordal ring network is a full mesh network in at least one dimension.

22. The system of claim 7 wherein the physical topology is a q-dimensional Manhattan Street network, wherein the base switching topology is a q-dimensional chordal path network, and wherein “

q”

is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein the q-dimensional chordal path network includes q dimensions, and wherein the q-dimensional chordal path network is a full mesh network in at least one of the q dimensions.

24. The system according to claim 7, wherein the physical topology further comprises a q-dimension physical topology in which the optical nodes in at least one dimension are connected in a physical ring and the optical nodes in a remaining q′

<

=q−

1 dimensions are connected in a physical q′

-dimensional torus network and wherein the base switching topology further comprises a multi-dimensional chordal ring network.

25. The system of claim 7 wherein the physical topology further comprises a q-dimensional physical network, wherein the base switching topology further comprises a q-dimensional virtual topology, wherein the plurality of optical nodes include at least one first optical node and at least one second optical node, aligned in a same dimension of the q-dimensional physical network, include ports that are not physically connected to one another on the q-dimensional physical network, wherein the q-dimensional virtual topology includes at least one chord disposed between at least the first and second optical nodes, and wherein “

q”

is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2.

26. The system according to claim 25 wherein at least one dimension of the q-dimension physical topology is a physical ring spanning all of the nodes.

27. The system according to claim 26 wherein the remaining q′

<

=q−

1 dimensions which are not physical rings are q′

-dimension toruses.

28. The system according to claim 7, further comprising:

a q-dimensional network for the physical topology,

wherein the nodes of a first dimension in the q-dimensional physical topology are connected to form at least one first physical ring, the nodes of a second dimension are connected to form a plurality of physical rings, and at least one node in each of at least two rings of the plurality of physical rings in the second dimension is present in the first physical ring in the first dimension.

29. The system according to claim 28, wherein the at least one first physical ring is a single physical ring spanning the plurality of optical nodes.

30. The system of claim 1, further comprising an electrical packet switch implemented as the electrical switch.

31. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

the first optical connection and the second optical connection being terminated at the at least one optical node.

32. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one of the optical inputs being physically connected directly to at least one of the optical outputs.

33. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

at least some of the optical inputs being provided together on a single optical fiber with one or more cores; and

at least some of the optical outputs being provided together on a single optical fiber with one or more cores.

39. The system of claim 28 wherein the q-dimensional chordal path network is a full mesh network in at least one of the q dimensions.

34. A system, comprising:

at least one optical node,

wherein the optical node includes;

at least one first pair of optical ports;

a first plurality of optical connections on each of the first pair of optical ports;

at least one second pair of optical ports;

a second plurality of optical connections on each of the second pair of optical ports,

an electrical switch;

a first plurality of optical receivers and optical transmitters communicably coupled between at least a portion of the first plurality of optical connections and the electrical switch; and

a second plurality of optical receivers and optical transmitters communicably coupled between at least a portion of the second plurality of optical connections and the electrical switch,

wherein, for one or both of the respective pairs of optical ports and the respective plurality of optical connections;

the respective pair of optical ports includes a first optical port and a second optical port, the first optical port including a plurality of separate optical inputs arranged in a predetermined sequence and identified as inputs 1 to N, the second optical port including a plurality of separate optical outputs arranged in the predetermined sequence and identified as outputs 1 to N;

the respective plurality of optical connections includes a first optical connection connected to input 1 of the first optical port, a second optical connection connected to output N of the second optical port, and a plurality of optical connection paths connected between input 2 to input N of the first optical port and output 1 to output N−

1 of the second optical port, respectively;

at least one of the optical transmitters communicably coupled between the electrical switch and the respective plurality of optical connections is operative to receive at least one first electrical signal from the electrical switch, and to provide at least one first optical signal on a specified wavelength corresponding to the at least one first electrical signal to a first selected one of the respective plurality of optical connections connected to a specified output k of the second optical port, wherein 1≦

k≦

N; and

at least one of the optical receivers communicably coupled between the respective plurality of optical connections and the electrical switch is operative to receive at least one second optical signal on the specified wavelength from a second selected one of the plurality of optical connections connected to a specified input j of the first optical port, wherein 1≦

j≦

k, and wherein the at least one of the optical receivers is further operative to provide at least one second electrical signal corresponding to the at least one second optical signal to the electrical switch.

35. The system of claim 34 wherein the at least one optical node comprises a plurality of optical nodes, the plurality of optical nodes being interconnected in a predetermined optical node arrangement, the predetermined optical node arrangement including a physical topology and a base switching topology.

36. The system of claim 34 wherein the physical topology is a q-dimensional torus network, wherein the base switching topology is a q-dimensional chordal ring network, and wherein “

q”

is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2.

37. The system of claim 36 wherein the q-dimensional chordal ring network is a full mesh network in at least one dimension.

38. The system of claim 34 wherein the physical topology is a q-dimensional Manhattan Street network, wherein the base switching topology is a q-dimensional chordal path network, and wherein “

q”

is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2.

40. The system according to claim 35, wherein the physical topology further comprises a q-dimension physical topology in which the optical nodes in at least one dimension are connected in a physical ring and the optical nodes in a remaining q′

<

=q−

1 dimensions are connected in a physical q′

-dimensional torus network and wherein the base switching topology further comprises a multi-dimensional chordal ring network.

41. The system of claim 34, further comprising the electrical switch being implemented as an electrical packet switch or an electrical circuit switch.

42. The system of claim 34, further comprising:

the first optical connection and the second optical connection being terminated at the at least one optical node.

43. The system of claim 34, further comprising at least one of the optical inputs being physically connected directly to at least one of the optical outputs.

44. The system of claim 34, further comprising:

at least some of the optical inputs being provided together on a single optical fiber with one or more cores; and

at least some of the optical outputs being provided together on a single optical fiber with one or more cores.

45. A method, comprising the steps of:

providing at least one optical node, wherein the optical node includes;

at least one pair of optical ports including a first optical port and a second optical port, the first optical port including a plurality of separate optical inputs arranged in a predetermined sequence and identified as inputs 1 to N, the second optical port including a plurality of separate optical outputs arranged in the predetermined sequence and identified as outputs 1 to N;

a plurality of optical connections on each of the first optical port and the second optical port, the plurality of optical connections including a first optical connection connected to input 1 of the first optical port, a second optical connection connected to output N of the second optical port, and a plurality of optical connection paths connected between input 2 to input N of the first optical port and output 1 to output N−

1 of the second optical port, respectively;

an electrical switch;

at least one optical transmitter;

an optical multiplexer;

an optical de-multiplexer; and

at least one optical receiver;

receiving, at the at least one optical transmitter, at least one first electrical signal from the switch;

providing, by the at least one optical transmitter, at least one first optical signal on a specified wavelength corresponding to the at least one first electrical signal;

receiving, at the optical multiplexer, the at least one first optical signal on the specified wavelength from the at least one optical transmitter;

adding, by the optical multiplexer, the at least one first optical signal to a first selected one of the plurality of optical connections connected to a specified output k of the second optical port, wherein 1≦

k≦

N;

dropping, by an optical de-multiplexer, at least one second optical signal on the specified wavelength from a second selected one of the plurality of optical connections connected to a specified input j of the first optical port, wherein 1≦

j≦

k; and

providing, by the at least one optical receiver, at least one second electrical signal corresponding to the at least one second optical signal to the switch.

46. The method of claim 45, further comprising the electrical switch being implemented as an electrical packet switch or an electrical circuit switch.

47. The method of claim 45, further comprising:

terminating the first optical connection and the second optical connection at the at least one optical node.

48. The method of claim 45, further comprising:

directly physically connecting at least one of the optical inputs to at least one of the optical outputs.

49. The method of claim 45, further comprising:

providing at least some of the optical inputs together on a single optical fiber with one or more cores; and

providing at least some of the optical outputs together on a single optical fiber with one or more cores.