Photonic line sharing for high-speed routers
US9021130B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 31, 2003 |
| Grant date | Apr 28, 2015 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 27, 2034 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04Q2011/005
- WIPO fieldTelecommunications
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention present a method and apparatus for photonic line sharing for high-speed routers. Photonic switches receive high-speed optical data streams and produce the data streams to a router operating according to routing logic and produce optical data streams according to destination addresses stored in the data packets. Each photonic switch can be configured as one of a 1:N multiplexer or an M:N cross-connect switch. In one embodiment, optical data is converted to electrical data prior to routing, while an alternate embodiment routes only optical data. Another embodiment transfers large volumes of high-speed data through an optical bypass line in a circuit switched network to bypass the switch fabric thereby routing the data packets directly to the destination. An edge device selects one of the packet switched network or the circuit switched network. The bypass resources are released when the large volume of high-speed data is transferred.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.