Patent ID: 7831153
Filing Date: 2010-11-09
Classification: H04B,H04J,H04Q

Abstract:
1. In a WDM optical transmission system that includes a plurality of network nodes interconnected by communication links, a network node, comprising: a reconfigurable optical switch having at least one input port for receiving from the transmission system a WDM signal having a plurality of wavelength components, said reconfigurable optical switch having a plurality of local ports such that any of the wavelengths components received on said at least one input port can be directed to any selected one of the local ports; a regenerator arrangement coupled to at least one of the local ports and having sufficient regeneration capacity to regenerate a prescribed fraction of the plurality of wavelength components, said prescribed fraction being less than a maximum number of wavelength components receivable by said node, wherein said regenerator arrangement comprises a plurality of user interfaces for performing regeneration, each of said user interfaces being coupled to a local port of the optical switch for conveying traffic between the transmission system and a source of traffic external to the transmission system such that each of said user interfaces defines an access point to the transmission system for traffic received from the external traffic source; a network management element for communicating with a network management center in the transmission system.