Patent ID: 7206508
Filing Date: 2007-04-17
Classification: H04J,H04Q

Abstract:
1. An optical switching device, the optical switching device being optically coupled to first and second bi-directional network links, comprising: a set of first network ports for optically connecting the optical switching device to a first bi-directional network link, wherein the set of first network ports includes first bi-directional working and protection network ports, which optically connect the optical switching device to the first bi-directional network link; a set of second network ports for optically connecting the optical switching device to a second bi-directional network link, wherein the set of second network ports includes second bi-directional working and protection network ports, which optically connect the optical switching device to the second bi-directional network link; wherein each of the first and second bi-directional network links comprises incoming working and protection links and outgoing working and protection links; a set of first terminal equipment ports for optically connecting the optical switching device to a first portion of terminal equipment; a set of second terminal equipment ports for optically connecting the optical switching device to a second portion of the terminal equipment; switching elements connected to the sets of first and second network ports and the sets of first and second terminal equipment ports, the switching elements performing switching for an optical network that utilizes bi-directional network links that carry both multi-wavelength and non-multi-wavelength signals, wherein the performed switching includes at least one of span, ring, and protection transit switching, and wherein the performed switching does not interfere with SONET layer switching of the signals; wherein the terminal equipment is configured to send and receive data from the first and second bi-directional network links via first and second network interfaces, respectively, wherein the first network interface is configured to be optically connected to the first bi-directional working and protection ports and the second network interface is configured to be optically connected to the second bi-directional working and protection ports; and a control device operable to control the optical switching device based on at least one of detected failures and supervisory messages.