Patent ID: 7450845

Claim:
A network comprising: a plurality of edge nodes interconnected by a backbone core and an auxiliary core, said backbone core comprising a first set of wavelength-division-multiplexed links and a plurality of primary optical connectors, said auxiliary core comprising a second set of wavelength-division-multiplexed links and a plurality of secondary optical connectors; and a controller associated with each of said edge nodes, each controller comprising: a route-selection module for selecting candidate routes from said each of said edge nodes to any other of said edge nodes; a first time-locking module for sending time locking signals from said each of said edge nodes to at least one of said secondary optical connectors; a propagation-delay-measurement module for determining relative propagation delays along said candidate routes; and a first connection-scheduling module for scheduling transfer of signals from an input side to an output side of said each of said edge nodes; wherein said backbone core provides, for each edge node, at least one backbone path having a bounded number of links to each other edge node, and said auxiliary core provides, for at least one edge node, at least one auxiliary path to at least one other edge node.