Patent ID: 7965732

Claim:
An optical node comprising: a data interface operable to receive data for transmission to a plurality of destinations; a buffer operable to store the data; a transmitting unit operable to couple to an optical transmission medium having a plurality of data channels and to selectively transmit optical signals on the data channels; and a controller operable to receive a token authorizing transmission on one of the data channels, to determine a transmission allocation, wherein the transmission allocation represents an amount of time that the authorized data channel may be utilized to transmit the data, to determine a destination allocation, wherein the destination allocation represents a proportion of the transmission allocation that may be utilized to transmit the data to a particular destination, and to transmit the data on the authorized data channel in accordance with the transmission allocation and the destination allocation, wherein determining the transmission allocation and determining the destination allocation comprise analyzing topology information associated with an optical communication ring to calculate the transmission allocation and the destination allocation.