Patent ID: 7113701

Claim:
An optical communication method for optical communication using a plurality of communication nodes for transmitting an optical signal an optical label signal with relative transmission time lag and an optical router for passing or intercepting the optical signal according to control information carried by the optical label signal, comprising the steps of: transmitting from each communication node an optical signal addressed to the communication node that transmitted it and the corresponding optical label signal giving a relative transmission time lag; receiving from each communication node the optical signal addressed to the communication node that transmitted it through said router; testing whether the optical signal addressed to the communication node that transmitted it has been received without an error or not; and setting the transmission time lag between the optical signal addressed to the communication node that transmitted it and the corresponding optical label signal to a select value based on a result of the step of testing so that the optical signal addressed to the communication node from which it was transmitted is received without an error, and setting the transmission time lag between the optical signal and the corresponding optical label signal to the select value with respect to the corresponding communication node.