Patent ID: 7359396

Claim:
A network comprising: a plurality of optical core nodes, each having an optical switch fabric including a plurality of inward ports receiving optical signals from other core nodes; and a plurality of outward ports transmitting optical signals to other core nodes; and a plurality of edge nodes each subtending to at least one of said core nodes; wherein at least one channel connects a selected outward port of a first core node to a selected inward port of a second core node and said at least one channel is provided with a signal buffer and a buffer controller; said buffer and buffer controller associated with said selected outward port; wherein at least one of said core nodes further includes: a plurality of bufferless inlet ports receiving optical signals from subtending edge nodes; and a plurality of bufferless outlet ports transmitting optical signals to subtending edge nodes; and wherein said buffer controller has a time-locking circuit operable to exchange time-locking signals with controllers of external nodes.