Patent ID: 9462359
Filing Date: 2016-10-04
CPC Classification: H04Q

Claim Text:
1. A first optical node comprising: an input port configured to receive an input optical frame; a label detector coupled to the input port, wherein the label detector is configured to a first optical switch coupled to the input port and to the label detector, wherein the first optical switch is configured to remove the input optical frame to produce a removed input optical frame when the node label indicates that the address of the input optical frame is the node address of the first optical node and to pass the input optical frame to a second optical switch when the node label indicates that the address of the input optical frame is the node address of the second optical node; the second optical switch coupled to the first optical switch and to the label detector, wherein the second optical switch is configured to output the input optical frame to an output port when the node label indicates that the address of the input optical frame is the node address of the second optical node and to output an added optical frame to the output port when the added optical frame is available and the node label indicates that the address of the input optical frame is the empty address; and a third optical switch coupled to the first optical switch and the second optical switch, wherein the third optical switch is configured to couple to a plurality of Ethernet switches, and wherein the third optical switch is configured to receive the removed input optical frame from the first optical switch, and to send the added optical frame to the second optical switch when the added optical frame is available.