Patent ID: 8717875

Claim:
A condensed core architecture for routing packets between access routers, comprising: at least one ingress device, each ingress device configured to receive packets from one or more access routers, determine a destination address associated with each received packet, and map each packet to one or more of a plurality of paths terminating at an access router associated with said destination address; at least one egress device, each egress device configured to convey toward one or more access routers packets received at the egress device via paths supported by the egress device; and a plurality of geographically proximate core transport switches, each core transport switch configured for selectively switching data between the at least one ingress device and the at least one egress device wherein the condensed core architecture includes the plurality of core transport switches, the at least one ingress device and the at least one egress device located proximate to each other to form a local connections region of short-range links interconnecting the plurality of core transport switches with the at least one ingress device and the at least one egress device.