Patent ID: 7603035

Claim:
An optical network, comprising: an optical ring; a plurality of local nodes coupled to the optical ring, the plurality of local nodes configured to receive traffic at a receiving wavelength; each local node configured to transmit traffic at an assigned transmitting wavelength, each local node having a different assigned transmitting wavelength, wherein the transmitting wavelengths are each transmitted at a bandwidth less than the receiving wavelength; and a data center node coupled to the optical ring and operable to receive traffic from the local nodes, sort at least some of the traffic based on the local node for which the traffic is destined, and transmit the traffic at the receiving wavelength to the local nodes; wherein the receiving wavelength comprises a first receiving wavelength, the data center node further operable to transmit traffic destined for at least one local node at a second receiving wavelength in response to the amount of traffic to be transmitted to the local nodes exceeding a bandwidth threshold; and wherein the data center node is further operable to transmit in an optical supervisory channel at least a portion of the traffic destined for the local nodes that exceeds the bandwidth threshold during a transition period before the traffic is transmitted in the second receiving wavelength.