Patent ID: 7187865
Filing Date: 2007-03-06
Classification: H04J,H04Q

Abstract:
1. A system for hybrid electronic/photonic switching of traffic in a node of a communications network, the system comprising: a plurality of interfaces adapted to translate respective traffic streams between corresponding electronic and optical signals, the plurality interfaces comprising: an electronic cross-connect (EXC) adapted to selectively map an electronic signal from a selected first one of the interfaces to a selected second one of the plurality of interfaces; a photonic cross-connect (PXC) adapted to selectively couple respective optical signals between each selected interface and selected ones of a plurality of optical channels comprising at least one working optical channel and at least one protection optical channel of the communications network; and wherein the traffic streams through the hybrid electronic/photonic switching system can be re-routed to bypass a failed interface without altering traffic flows within the communications network itself, as each of the plurality of interfaces can be selected independently of the at least one working optical channel and the at least one protection optical channel.