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

  • US 9,699,530 B2
  • Filed: 05/06/2015
  • Issued: 07/04/2017
  • Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2011
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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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:

  • 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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