Optical path fault recovery
First Claim
1. An optical network, comprising;
- a primary optical path and a bypass optical path having optical routing elements at node elements thereof at a data plane thereof;
a control plane configured to control one or more of said optical routing elements in the data plane, said control plane configured to select, at a time prior to an interruption in the continuity of the primary optical path, said bypass optical path;
wherein the bypass optical path includes at least one available node element that is not dedicated to a bypass function, and wherein the at least one available node element is maintained in an on condition in which the at least one available node element is configured to transmit an optical signal without carrying data, prior to the interruption in the continuity of the primary optical path.
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Abstract
The embodiments disclosed herein provide fast recovery of a network signal path by, in the event of a failure or unacceptable degradation in a signal in the original network path, diverting the optical signal passing through the network to a preselected bypass optical path which is maintained in a warm or operational state. The optical elements on the bypass optical path are available network resources which may, during part or all of the time the bypass path is designated for a node in the primary optical path, be in use to transmit other optical signals in the network. By maintaining the resources in the designated bypass path in a warm or operating state, fast rerouting and recovery of an interrupted signal is possible.
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Citations
9 Claims
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1. An optical network, comprising;
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a primary optical path and a bypass optical path having optical routing elements at node elements thereof at a data plane thereof; a control plane configured to control one or more of said optical routing elements in the data plane, said control plane configured to select, at a time prior to an interruption in the continuity of the primary optical path, said bypass optical path; wherein the bypass optical path includes at least one available node element that is not dedicated to a bypass function, and wherein the at least one available node element is maintained in an on condition in which the at least one available node element is configured to transmit an optical signal without carrying data, prior to the interruption in the continuity of the primary optical path. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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Specification