Optical architecture and channel plan employing multi-fiber configurations for data center network switching
First Claim
1. A method of routing a multicast frame in an optical network having a plurality of communicably interconnected optical nodes including a multicast master node and a plurality of slave nodes, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving, at a first slave node which is one of the plurality of slave nodes in the optical network, a multicast frame transmitted as a first optical signal over the optical network from the multicast master node;
converting, at an optical to electrical converter associated with the first slave node, the received first optical signal to an electrical signal corresponding to the received multicast frame;
receiving, at a first circuit switch input of a circuit switch associated with the first slave node, the electrical signal from the optical to electrical converter in unmodified form, the circuit switch further having a second circuit switch input and first and second circuit switch outputs, the circuit switch being connected to a packet switch associated with the first slave node, the packet switch having a packet switch input and a packet switch output, the second circuit switch input being coupled to the packet switch output and the second circuit switch output being coupled to the packet switch input;
forwarding the electrical signal, with low latency, directly through the circuit switch to the first circuit switch output so as to bypass the packet switch;
receiving, at an input of an electrical to optical converter associated with the first slave node, the electrical signal from the first circuit switch output;
converting, at the electrical to optical converter, the electrical signal to a second optical signal corresponding to the received multicast frame;
transmitting the received multicast frame from a first optical output of the first slave node as the second optical signal downstream on the optical network for receipt by another optical node in the optical network; and
forwarding the received multicast frame to an external computerized device coupled to the first slave node in the event that the external computerized device is a multicast subscriber, wherein the received multicast frame is forwarded to the external computerized device using one of;
a path from the circuit switch through the packet switch to the external computerized device, and a path directly from the circuit switch to the external computerized device so as to bypass the packet switch.
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Accused Products
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.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method of routing a multicast frame in an optical network having a plurality of communicably interconnected optical nodes including a multicast master node and a plurality of slave nodes, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving, at a first slave node which is one of the plurality of slave nodes in the optical network, a multicast frame transmitted as a first optical signal over the optical network from the multicast master node; converting, at an optical to electrical converter associated with the first slave node, the received first optical signal to an electrical signal corresponding to the received multicast frame; receiving, at a first circuit switch input of a circuit switch associated with the first slave node, the electrical signal from the optical to electrical converter in unmodified form, the circuit switch further having a second circuit switch input and first and second circuit switch outputs, the circuit switch being connected to a packet switch associated with the first slave node, the packet switch having a packet switch input and a packet switch output, the second circuit switch input being coupled to the packet switch output and the second circuit switch output being coupled to the packet switch input; forwarding the electrical signal, with low latency, directly through the circuit switch to the first circuit switch output so as to bypass the packet switch; receiving, at an input of an electrical to optical converter associated with the first slave node, the electrical signal from the first circuit switch output; converting, at the electrical to optical converter, the electrical signal to a second optical signal corresponding to the received multicast frame; transmitting the received multicast frame from a first optical output of the first slave node as the second optical signal downstream on the optical network for receipt by another optical node in the optical network; and forwarding the received multicast frame to an external computerized device coupled to the first slave node in the event that the external computerized device is a multicast subscriber, wherein the received multicast frame is forwarded to the external computerized device using one of;
a path from the circuit switch through the packet switch to the external computerized device, and a path directly from the circuit switch to the external computerized device so as to bypass the packet switch. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for routing a multicast frame in an optical network comprising:
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a plurality of optical nodes including; a plurality of slave nodes wherein a first slave node is one of the plurality of slave nodes; and a multicast master node communicably coupled to the plurality of slave nodes via the optical network; and an external computerized device communicably coupled to the first slave node; the multicast master node being configured and operative to transmit the multicast frame as a first optical signal over the optical network from the multicast master node; the first slave node being operative to; receive the multicast frame as the first optical signal; convert, at an optical to electrical converter within the first slave node, the received first optical signal to an electrical signal corresponding to the received multicast frame; forward the multicast frame as the electrical signal to a circuit switch within the first slave node; receive, at a first circuit switch input of the circuit switch, the electrical signal from the optical to electrical converter in unmodified form, the circuit switch further having a second circuit switch input and first and second circuit switch outputs, the circuit switch being connected to a packet switch within the first slave node, the packet switch having a packet switch input and a packet switch output, the second circuit switch input being coupled to the packet switch output and the second circuit switch output being coupled to the packet switch input; forward the electrical signal, with low latency, directly through the circuit switch within the first slave node to the first circuit switch output so as to bypass the packet switch; receive, at an input of an electrical to optical converter within the first slave node, the electrical signal from the first circuit switch output; convert, at the electrical to optical converter, the electrical signal to a second optical signal corresponding to the received multicast frame; transmit the multicast frame from a first optical output of the first slave node as the second optical signal downstream on the optical network; and forward the received multicast frame to the external computerized device communicably coupled to the first slave node in the event the external computerized device is a multicast subscriber, wherein the received multicast frame is forwarded to the external computerized device using one of;
a path from the circuit switch through the packet switch to the external computerized device, and a path directly from the circuit switch to the external computerized device so as to bypass the packet switch. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification