Container based crossconnect
View Patent ↗Systems and methods for optical cross connects which switch data at a container (packet) level. In one embodiment, a plurality of optical switch edges are coupled to an optical switch core via a minimal number of optical fibers. The switch core is configured to optically switch data from an ingress edge to one of a plurality of egress edges in a nonblocking fashion. The ingress edge receives data streams and distributes the data among a plurality of container processors. Each of these container processors produces an optical signal of a different wavelength, which can then be multiplexed with others to form a multiple-wavelength optical signal that is transmitted to the switch core. The switch core then switches successive portions (containers) of the multiple-wavelength signal to the egress edges to which they are respectively destined. The respective egress edges perform the reverse of this process to form output data signals.
1. A method comprising:
at an ingress edge:
receiving one or more data signals, wherein each data signal contains data segments having different destinations;
grouping the data segments by destination;
formatting the data segments having a common destination or same destinations into containers;
accumulating the containers in time slots defined by a predetermined switching schedule;
converting containers within a given time slot into optical signals of different wavelengths;
multiplexing the optical signals of different wavelengths into a multiple-wavelength optical signal; and
transmitting the multiple-wavelength optical signal to an optical switch core in corresponding time slots defined by the predetermined switching schedule.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein formatting the data segments comprises adding framing, header information and an error correcting code.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising switching segments of the multiple-wavelength optical signal corresponding to time slots through the optical switch core to their respective destinations in accordance with the predetermined switching schedule.
4. A method comprising:
receiving one or more data signals, wherein each data signal contains data segments having different destinations;
grouping the data segments by destination;
formatting the data segments having a common destination or same destinations into containers;
for each time slot in a switching schedule,
accumulating a plurality of containers having a common destination edge in the time slot;
transforming the plurality of containers within the time slot into a multiple-wavelength optical data signal;
transmitting multiple-wavelength optical data signals to an optical switch core in accordance with the switching schedule;
receiving the multiple-wavelength optical data signals, wherein each multiple-wavelength optical data signal includes a series of data segments, wherein successive ones of the data segments are destined for different destinations; and
optically switching the data segments to the corresponding destinations to which the data segments are destined.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein each of the data segments is associated with a time slot and wherein each of the data segments is switched to a destination corresponding to the associated time slot.
6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the time slots are configured to repeat with a predetermined periodicity.
7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the association of each time slot with a corresponding destination is defined by the switching schedule.
8. The method of claim 4 , wherein optically switching the data segments comprises switching the data segments through one or more silicon optical amplifiers.
9. The method of claim 4 , further comprising concurrently switching data segments from each of the multiple-wavelength optical data signals through one or more silicon optical amplifiers in a non-blocking manner.
10. An edge unit configured to be coupled to an optical switch core comprising:
a grooming component configured to receive a plurality of input data signals and to switch data segments within the input data signals to a plurality of container processors;
a plurality of container processors coupled to the grooming component, wherein each of the plurality of container processors is configured to:
format the data segments received from the grooming component into containers, wherein all of the data segments within a particular container are destined for the same egress edge or edges;
accumulate the containers in time slots defined by a predetermined switching schedule;
convert containers within a given time slot into optical signals of different wavelengths; and
a container aggregator optically coupled to the plurality of container processors, wherein the container aggregator is configured to multiplex the containers embodied in the optical signals of different wavelengths received from the plurality of container processors into a single multiple-wavelength optical signal.
11. The edge unit of claim 10 , further comprising a plurality of edge data interfaces configured to receive the plurality of input data signals from one or more data sources and to provide the input data signals to the grooming component.
12. The edge unit of claim 10 , further comprising an amplifier configured to receive the multiplexed multiple-wavelength optical signal from the container aggregator, to amplify the multiplexed multiple-wavelength optical signal, and to provide the amplified multiplexed multiple-wavelength optical signal as an output.
13. A system comprising:
at least one ingress edge configured to receive one or more input data signals, wherein each input data signal contains a plurality of data segments, wherein each ingress edge is configured to collect and format the data segments into a plurality of containers, each containing a series of data segments destined for a common egress edge or edges, and wherein each ingress edge comprises:
a grooming component configured to receive the one or more input data signals and to switch the data segments to appropriate container processors;
a plurality of container processors coupled to the grooming component, wherein each of the plurality of container processors is configured to:
format the data segments received from the grooming component into containers, wherein all of the data segments within a particular container are destined for the same egress edge or edges;
accumulate the containers in time slots defined by a predetermined switching schedule;
convert containers within a given time slot into optical signals of different wavelengths; and
a container aggregator optically coupled to the plurality of container processors, wherein the container aggregator is configured to multiplex the containers embodied in the optical signals of different wavelengths received from the plurality of container processors into a multiple-wavelength optical signal;
an optical switch core coupled to the at least one ingress edge, wherein the optical switch core is configured to receive and optically switch each of the containers embodied in the multiple-wavelength optical signal to at least one egress edge based upon a timeslot associated with each container and where successive ones of the containers are destined for different egress edges.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the optical switch core is configured to switch multiple-wavelength signals to one or more egress edges in timeslots that correspond to the one or more egress edges, and wherein each egress edge is configured to demultiplex the multiple-wavelength signals into a plurality of single-wavelength containers.
15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the optical switch core comprises a plurality of silicon optical amplifiers and is configured to switch each of the containers based upon the predetermined switching schedule, wherein the predetermined switching schedule defines a set of connections between ingress edges and egress edges for each timeslot.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the set of connections between ingress edges and egress edges may be different for successive timeslots.
17. The system of claim 15 , wherein each set of connections between ingress edges and egress edges defined by the predetermined switching schedule is non-blocking.
18. The system of claim 13 , wherein each ingress edge comprises a plurality of buffers for holding the plurality of containers.