Patent Document ID: 9876705
Application ID: 15377645
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method of updating a network to transition from an existing network topology to a new network topology, the network including at least one optical circuit switch (OCS), the method comprising: creating, by one or more computing devices, one or more intermediate topologies between the existing topology and the new topology, comprising: selecting first links within the OCSs to be added to the existing topology without removing links, wherein each of the first links is a link within a respective OCS; selecting additional links within the OCSs to be added to the existing topology upon removal of one or more existing links within the OCSs, wherein each additional link is a link within a respective OCS; adding one or more of the selected first and additional links within the OCSs to the existing topology to create a first intermediate topology; determining whether any of the selected first and additional links are still to be added; and in response to determining that if no selected first and additional links are to be added, removing remaining links; and transitioning from the existing topology to the first intermediate topology, wherein transitioning from the existing topology to the first intermediate topology comprises: identifying, by one or more computing devices, links to be removed from the existing topology; draining the identified links; waiting until a predetermined period of time passes or until receiving a signal indicating that routing has converged; reconfiguring, by the one or more computing devices, the OCS to the first intermediate network topology, the reconfiguring comprising adding one or more new links; and routing traffic through the new links.