Patent ID: 6879783

Claim:
A device which is used in an optical network system for transferring a user packet, which is input to said optical network system from outside said optical network system, to outside said optical network system through a plurality of said devices, which are sequentially provided from an upstream side to a downstream side of a transfer route, the device comprising: a router; an optical switch; and a node control device, wherein said node control device may function as a transmission side edge node device, a core node device, and a destination side edge node device, said node control device comprising: an optical path allocation request packet processing means for (1) transferring a first open resource information of said destination side edge node device as an optical path allocation request packet to said transmission side edge node device through said core node device on the upstream side of the transfer route, when said node device functions as said destination edge node device, and (2) adding a second open resource information of said core node device to said optical path allocation request packet received from said destination side edge device on the downstream side of the transfer route and transferring it to another node control device on the upstream side of the transfer route, when said node control device functions as said core node device; an optical path allocation packet processing means for (b1) selecting open resource information capable of determining the allocation of an optical path, which can pass through said core node device without going through the router therein, based on said first and second open resource information received from said core node device on the downstream side of the transfer route, when said node device functions as said transmission side edge node device, and (b2) notifying the allocation of the optical path to said core node device relating to the selected open resource information, using an optical path allocation packet; and an optical path switching means for (c1) controlling said optical switch according to said optical path allocation packet to set said optical path which does not go through said router, when said node device control functions as said core node device, and (c2) outputting an optical path setting completion notice packet to notify of completion of the optical path setting to said transmission side edge node device.