Patent ID: 8280251

Claim:
A system for transmitting data, comprising: a transmitter node comprising a setup path packet and a plurality of data packets; a receiver node operatively connected to the transmitter node by a first optical channel (OC); and a first intermediate node comprising a first forwarding module and operatively connected to the transmitter node by a second OC and to the receiver node by a third OC, wherein the transmitter node is configured to transmit the setup path packet and a first subset of the plurality of data packets to the first intermediate node using the second OC, wherein the first forwarding module is configured to relay, in response to receiving the setup packet, the first subset to the receiver node by switching the first subset from the second OC to the third OC, wherein the receiver node is configured to receive a second subset of the plurality of data packets from the transmitter node using the first OC, wherein the second OC comprises: a first waveguide operatively connected to the transmitter node and configured to propagate a signal comprising the first subset using a predetermined wavelength, a second waveguide operatively connected to the first intermediate node, and a drop filter operatively connecting the first waveguide with the second waveguide, and configured to identify the signal in the first waveguide based on the predetermined wavelength and route the signal into the second waveguide before the signal reaches the first intermediate node, and wherein the signal propagates in the third OC using the predetermined wavelength.