Patent ID: 6970617
Filing Date: 2005-11-29
Classification: H04J

Abstract:
1. An optical reconfigurable service ring (RSR) architecture based on a RSR channel and WDM channel plan matrix, comprising: a set of tunable RSR channels, each tunable RSR channel covers one group of predefined and adjacent WDM channels, and each tunable RSR channel is within a tuning range of a narrowly tunable optical channel transmitter; a set of the narrowly tunable optical transmitters, wherein the frequency or the wavelength of each narrowly tunable optical transmitter can be tuned by electrical, thermal, optical, mechanical or any other means, to cover one of the several and adjacent WDM channels it includes, and each narrowly tunable optical transmitter covers a different group of WDM channels whose group frequencies are not overlapping; a gateway hub, having an optical input coupled to the output of a last optical fiber span and an optical output coupled to an input of a first optical fiber span, for providing optical multiplexing and demultiplexing for all the WDM channels included by all the tunable RSR channels; a set of service nodes, each having an optical input coupled to an output of a first optical fiber span and an optical output coupled to an input of a second optical fiber span, for providing optical add and drop to a set of WDM channels, wherein all WDM channels add/drop to a service node belong to different tunable channels, and every service node on the optical RSR ring adds and drops a different set of WDM channels; wherein a switching or routing mechanism changes the service node it reaches when the narrowly tunable optical transmitters at the hub are tuned among the WDM channels, as each service node only accesses one particular WDM channel from each tunable RSR channel.