Optical network automatic protection switching

1. An optical terminal for use in a passive optical network, comprising:

an optical I/O module for sending and receiving optical data packets along an optical fibre;

an electrical I/O module for sending and receiving electrical data packets via an electrical connection;

a signal converter operatively connected to the optical and electrical I/O modules for converting the data packets between optical and electrical formats; and

a controller for controlling the operation of the I/O modules and the signal converter, the controller being configured to:

detect a failure of a primary data path in the optical network;

initiate an automatic protection switch to a secondary data path for optical data packets; and

in response to the automatic protection switch to the secondary data path, generate traffic flow update messages to be sent upstream, each traffic flow update message containing, as a source address, a MAC address of a client device downstream of the terminal,

wherein the primary data path in the optical network optically couples the optical terminal to a first other optical terminal, and wherein the secondary data path for optical data packets optically couples the optical terminal to a second other optical terminal that is not the first other optical terminal.

2. The optical terminal of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to inspect data packets processed by the signal converter and identify, from the inspected data packets, MAC addresses of client devices downstream of the terminal.

3. The optical terminal of claim 2 , further configured to store the MAC addresses of the client devices downstream of the terminal.

4. The optical terminal of claim 1 , wherein each traffic control flow update message further contains an IP address of the client device downstream of the terminal.

5. The optical terminal of claim 1 , configured to co-operate with an Ethernet network upstream of the passive optical network.

6. The optical terminal of claim 1 , wherein the traffic flow update messages are Gratuitous ARP messages.

7. The optical terminal of claim 1 , wherein the traffic flow update messages are NDP messages.

8. The optical terminal of claim 1 , wherein the optical terminal is an Optical Network Terminal and the first and second other optical terminals are respective first and second Optical Line Terminals.

9. The optical terminal of claim 1 , wherein the optical terminal is an Optical Line Terminal and the first and second other optical terminals are respective first and second Optical Network Terminals.

10. A network for delivering data from an application server to a client device, comprising:

an Ethernet network for receiving data packets from the application server;

a passive optical network comprising a primary data path and a secondary data path for receiving the data packets from the Ethernet network; and

a service network for receiving the data packets from the passive optical network and delivering them to the client device;

wherein the passive optical network includes the optical terminal of claim 1 .

11. A method of effecting an automatic protection switch in a passive optical network, comprising:

at an optical terminal, detecting a failure of a primary data path for optical data packets in the network;

at the optical terminal, initiating the automatic protection switch to a secondary data path for the optical data packets;

at the optical terminal, in response to the automatic protection switch to the secondary data path, generating traffic flow update messages and inserting into each traffic flow update message, as a source address, a MAC address of a client device downstream of the optical terminal; and

sending the traffic flow update messages upstream from the optical terminal,

wherein the primary data path in the optical network optically couples the optical terminal to a first other optical terminal, and wherein the secondary data path for the optical data packets optically couples the optical terminal to a second other optical terminal that is not the first other optical terminal.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising carrying out snooping at the optical terminal to identify and store MAC addresses of client devices downstream of the optical terminal.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein each traffic control flow update message further contains an IP address of the client device downstream of the terminal.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the passive optical network is configured to transmit data from an Ethernet network, and wherein the traffic flow update messages are sent upstream into the Ethernet network for use by switches in the Ethernet network.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the traffic flow update messages are Gratuitous ARP messages.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the traffic flow update messages are NDP messages.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the optical terminal is an Optical Network Terminal and the first and second other optical terminals are respective first and second Optical Line Terminals.

18. A nontransitory computer readable storage medium having stored therein a computer program that, when executed by a programmable processor, causes the programmable processor to perform a method of effecting an automatic protection switch in a passive optical network, the method comprising:

at an optical terminal, detecting a failure of a primary data path for optical data packets in the network;

at the optical terminal, initiating the automatic protection switch to a secondary data path for the optical data packets;

at the optical terminal, in response to the automatic protection switch to the secondary data path, generating traffic flow update messages and inserting into each traffic flow update message, as a source address, a MAC address of a client device downstream of the optical terminal; and

sending the traffic flow update messages upstream from the optical terminal,

wherein the primary data path in the optical network optically couples the optical terminal to a first other optical terminal, and wherein the secondary data path for the optical data packets optically couples the optical terminal to a second other optical terminal that is not the first other optical terminal.