Patent · US Expired

Method of deactivating protection fiber resources in optical ring networks

US6512611B1 · kind B1 · utility

11Cited by
6References
34Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 23, 1999
Grant dateJan 28, 2003
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 23, 2019

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04J14/0291
  • WIPO fieldTelecommunications
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The present invention consists of a method of deactivating protection fiber resources in an existing optical interconnected ring network or system. The invention uses 1:N protection principles to provide a single protection path on spans interconnecting nodes common to two or more optical rings. With the sharing of a protection fiber or channel on spans interconnecting common nodes, the present invention eliminates the need for multiple protection paths on these spans and provides substantial fiber capacity savings. According to the invention, the protection fibers and equipment deactivated can be removed or alternatively re-provisioned to provide a cost-effective and efficient allocation of the resources available in the network.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.