Patent ID: 9560427
Date: 2017-01-31
CPC Classifications: H04J,H04L,H04Q

Claim:
1. An optical network node comprising: a plurality of input transit ports configured to receive incoming optical signals; a plurality of output transit ports configured to forward outgoing optical signals to next hop nodes; a first switching stage coupled to the plurality of input transit ports, the first switching stage including a first plurality of switching fabrics; a second switching stage interconnecting the first plurality of switching fabrics with the plurality of output transit ports, wherein the second switching stage includes a second plurality of switching fabrics; and a control plane configured to determine present congestion levels of switching fabrics in the second plurality of switching fabrics, and to manipulate the first plurality of switching fabrics to load balance the incoming optical signals over the second plurality of switching fabrics according to the present congestion levels of switching fabrics in the second plurality of switching fabrics.