Interconnection system and communication method

Abstract

An interconnection system and a communication method, relating to the technical field of optical communications, and used for reducing the difficulty of increasing dimensions of already deployed networks. In the interconnection system, every two planes are interconnected by means of one or more optical switching modules, and interconnection is implemented on each plane by means of output ports of optical modules on an input side and input ports of optical modules on an output side, without occupying dimension ports of existing planes, thereby reducing the difficulty of increasing dimensions of already deployed networks, and eliminating the need to reserve dimension slots in advance for capacity expansion. In addition, optical switching modules for protection may be added to the interconnection system to protect the operating optical switching modules, thereby improving reliability.

Description

An interconnection system and communication method

[0001] Cross-reference to related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202411844858.6, filed on December 13, 2024, entitled "An Interconnection System and Communication Method", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] This application relates to the field of optical communication technology, and in particular to an interconnection system and communication method. Background Technology

[0004] To support the future development of digital services, backbone transmission is increasingly evolving towards higher port counts, faster scheduling, and wider spectrum; while metropolitan area transmission is showing a clear trend towards all-optical and cross-layer convergence technologies. The all-optical foundation of computing networks is developing comprehensively, gradually increasing in complexity. Networks are beginning to require high-dimensional nodes, primarily due to the large consumption of wavelength selective switch (WSS) ports caused by traffic-driven and parallel fiber expansion.

[0005] As the demand for WSS ports increases, the technological complexity of larger port WSSs also increases. Currently, the main approach to address the high-dimensionality requirements of networks is through split-site interconnection. Split-site interconnection involves connecting two planes; however, this method requires occupying ports in the original planes, reducing the dimensionality of the two planes and making further dimensional evolution difficult. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This application provides an interconnection system and communication method to reduce the difficulty of increasing the dimensions of the original network deployment.

[0007] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide an interconnection system, including at least P1 first optical switching modules, a first plane, and a second plane. The first plane includes M1 first optical modules on the input side and M1 second optical modules on the output side. The second plane includes M2 first optical modules on the input side and M2 second optical modules on the output side. The M1 first optical modules and M1 second optical modules are meshed together in the first plane, and the M2 first optical modules and M2 second optical modules are meshed together in the second plane. M1 and M2 are integers greater than 1, and P1 is a positive integer. In the first plane, at least one first output port of each of the K1 first optical modules is connected to at least one input port of each of the P1 first optical switching modules. Different first optical modules in the first plane are connected to different input ports of the same first optical switching module. Different first output ports of the same first optical module in the first plane are connected to different first optical switching modules. The first output port of a first optical module is the output port included in the first optical module, excluding those used for in-plane mesh connections. K1 is a positive integer and K1 is less than or equal to min(M1, M2). In the second plane, at least one first input port of each of the K1 second optical modules is connected to at least one output port of a first optical switching module in a one-to-one correspondence. Different second optical modules in the second plane are connected to different input ports of the same first optical switching module. Different first input ports of the same second optical module in the second plane are connected to different first optical switching modules. The first input port of a second optical module is the input port included in the second optical module, excluding those used for in-plane mesh connections. Any one of the P1 first optical switching modules is used to switch the optical signal from the first plane input to the second plane through one of the output ports of the first optical switching module.

[0008] In the above scheme, the two planes are interconnected through one or more optical switching modules. The interconnection is achieved through the output port of the optical module on the input side and the input port of the optical module on the output side in each plane. This will not occupy the dimensional ports of the original plane, reduce the difficulty of increasing the network dimension of the original deployment, and eliminate the need to reserve dimensional slots in advance for capacity expansion.

[0009] In one possible design, P1 = 1, the number of input ports of the first optical switching module is greater than or equal to K1, and the number of output ports of the first optical switching module is greater than or equal to K1; M1 = M2, the first optical module includes at least one input port and at least M1+1 output ports, and the second optical module includes at least M1+1 input ports and at least one output port; M1 output ports of each first optical module in the first plane are used for mesh connections within the first plane, and M1 input ports of each second optical module in the first plane are used for mesh connections within the first plane; the first output port of each of the K1 first optical modules in the first plane is connected to the first optical switching module; M1 output ports of each first optical module in the second plane are used for mesh connections with M1 second optical modules in the second plane, and M1 input ports of each second optical module in the second plane are used for mesh connections with M1 first optical modules in the second plane; the first input port of each of the K1 first optical modules in the second plane is connected to the first optical switching module.

[0010] In the above design, when the number of ports of the optical switching module is greater than or equal to K1, the connection between the two planes can be achieved through only one, reducing the number of optical switching modules deployed.

[0011] In one possible design, the number of input ports of the first optical switching module is greater than or equal to 2*K1, and the number of output ports of the first optical switching module is greater than or equal to 2*K1; the first output port of each of the K1 first optical modules in the second plane is connected to the first optical switching module, and the first input port of each of the K1 second optical modules in the first plane is connected to the first optical switching module; wherein, the input ports of the first optical switching module connected to the first optical modules in the first plane and the first optical modules in the second plane are different, and the output ports of the first optical switching module connected to the second optical modules in the first plane and the second optical modules in the second plane are different.

[0012] In the above design, bidirectional signal interaction between the two planes is achieved through a single optical switching module, reducing the number of optical switching modules required.

[0013] In one possible design, K1 = M1 = M2. The mesh connection between the two planes is achieved through an optical switching module. Since it does not require occupying existing dimensions, it solves the problem of existing networks being unable to expand due to increased dimensions or requiring pre-reserved slots for expansion.

[0014] In one possible design, the number of input ports of the first optical switching module is less than or equal to M1, where M1 = M2, and P1 is greater than or equal to 4. P1 first optical switching modules are used to implement mesh connections between the M1 first optical modules in the first plane and the M1 second optical modules in the second plane. When the number of ports of the optical switching modules is small, mesh connections between planes can be achieved using multiple optical switching modules.

[0015] In one possible design, the number of input ports of the first optical switching module is less than or equal to M1 and greater than or equal to M1 / 2, P1 = 4.

[0016] In one possible design, P2 second optical switching modules are also included; at least one first output port of each of the K2 first optical modules in the second plane is connected to the input port of at least one of the P2 second optical switching modules. The input ports of the same second optical switching module connected to different first optical modules in the second plane are different. The second optical switching modules connected to different first output ports of the same first optical module in the second plane are different. At least one first input port of each of the K2 second optical modules in the first plane is connected to the output port of at least one second optical switching module in a one-to-one correspondence. The input ports of the same second optical switching module connected to different second optical modules in the first plane are different. The second optical switching modules connected to different first input ports of the same second optical module in the first plane are different. K2 is a positive integer and K2 is less than or equal to min(M1,M2).

[0017] In the above design, bidirectional communication between planes is achieved through different optical switching modules, reducing the requirement for the number of ports of the optical switching modules.

[0018] In one possible design, P1 third optical switching modules are also included, each corresponding one-to-one with one of the P1 first optical switching modules. At least one second output port of each of the K1 first optical modules in the first plane is connected one-to-one with the input port of at least one of the P1 third optical switching modules. Different first optical modules in the first plane are connected to different input ports of the same third optical switching module, and different first output ports of the same first optical module in the first plane are connected to different third optical switching modules. At least one second input port of each of the K1 second optical modules in the second plane is connected to at least one of the P1 third optical switching modules. The output ports of the three optical switching modules are connected one-to-one. Different second optical modules in the second plane connect to different input ports of the same third optical switching module. Different first input ports of the same second optical module in the second plane connect to different third optical switching modules. The second output port of the first optical module includes all output ports except those used for mesh connections and those used for connecting to the first optical switching module. The second input port of the second optical module includes all input ports except those used for mesh connections and those used for connecting to the first optical switching module. Any one of the P1 third optical switching modules is used to switch the optical signal input from the first plane through the output port of any of the first optical switching modules to the second plane when the first optical switching module corresponding to that third optical switching module fails.

[0019] In the above design, the deployment of a protective optical switching module can protect the first working optical switching module, thereby increasing the reliability of the system.

[0020] In one possible design, the system further includes P1 third optical switching modules, Q*K1 beam splitting modules, and Q*K1 beam combining modules. The P1 third optical switching modules correspond one-to-one with the P1 first optical switching modules; P1 is greater than or equal to Q. In the first plane, the Q first output ports of each of the K1 first optical modules are connected one-to-one with the input ports of the Q beam splitting modules. The two output ports of each of the Q*K1 beam splitting modules are connected to the input ports of one first optical switching module and one third optical switching module, respectively. Different first optical modules in the first plane are connected to different beam splitting modules. In the second plane, the Q first input ports of each of the K1 second optical modules are connected one-to-one with the output ports of the Q beam combining modules. The two output ports of each of the Q*K1 beam combining modules are connected to the output ports of one first optical switching module and one third optical switching module, respectively. Different second optical modules in the second plane are connected to different beam combining modules.

[0021] In the above design, by adding optical splitting and combining modules, the number of ports occupied by the original in-plane optical modules by the inter-plane connection is reduced, thus reducing the difficulty of deployment and dimensional expansion.

[0022] In one possible design, Q = 1 and P1 = 1.

[0023] In one possible design, it also includes a third optical switching module, b optical splitting modules, and b optical combining modules; the specifications of the P1 first optical switching modules are b*b, M1=M2=K1, M1 / b=U, P1=U 2 U and b are positive integers. The third optical switching module has a specification of b*b. The optical combining module includes U input ports and one output port. The optical splitting module includes one input port and U output ports. The U input ports of each of the b optical combining modules are connected to the input ports of a first optical switching module. Each optical combining module is connected to U first optical modules among the M1 first optical modules in the first plane. Different optical combining modules are connected to different first optical modules. The b output ports of the third optical switching module are connected one-to-one with the b optical splitting modules. Each optical splitting module is connected to U second optical modules among the M1 second optical modules in the second plane. Different optical splitting modules are connected to different second optical modules.

[0024] In the above design, by adding optical splitting and combining modules, the number of ports occupied by the original planar optical modules in the protection scenario of the optical switching module is reduced, thus reducing the difficulty of deployment and dimensional expansion.

[0025] In one possible design, the system has L planes, where L is greater than 2; the first plane and the second plane belong to any two of the L planes; the system includes P1*L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules; each P1 group of first optical switching modules is used for connections between two planes. Different first optical switching modules are used for connections between different planes. Different first optical switching modules are used for connections between different planes. Different first optical switching modules are used in different groups of first optical switching modules.

[0026] In the first plane, the number of output ports of each of the M1 first optical modules is greater than or equal to M1+L-1, and the number of input ports of each of the M1 second optical modules in the second plane is greater than or equal to M1+L-1. In the first plane, L-1 first output ports of each first optical module are used to connect one-to-one with L-1 first optical switching modules. In the second plane, L-1 first input ports of each second optical module are used to connect one-to-one with L-1 first optical switching modules.

[0027] In one possible design, P1 = 1, and the system also includes L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules; each of the L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules corresponds one-to-one with the L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules, with each third optical switching module used for connection between two planes, and different third optical switching modules used for connection between different planes; the number of output ports of each of the M1 first optical modules in the first plane is greater than or equal to M1+2(L-1), and the number of input ports of each of the M1 second optical modules in the second plane is... The number of ports is greater than or equal to M1+2*(L-1); each first optical module in the first plane has L-1 first output ports for one-to-one connection with L-1 first optical switching modules in L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules; each first optical module in the first plane has L-1 second output ports for one-to-one connection with L-1 third optical switching modules in L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules; the L-1 first output ports and L-1 second output ports of the first optical module are at least M1+2*(L-1) of the first optical module. -1) different output ports excluding the M1 output ports used for mesh connections within the plane; L-1 first input ports in each second optical module in the second plane are used to connect one-to-one with L-1 first optical switching modules in L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules; L-1 second input ports in each second optical module in the second plane are used to connect one-to-one with L-1 third optical switching modules in L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules; L-1 first input ports and L-1 second... The input port is a different output port among the at least M1+2(L-1) input ports of the second optical module, excluding the M1 output ports used for mesh connections in the plane; the fourth optical switching module is used to switch the optical signal from the first plane input to the second plane through one of the L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules for connection between the first plane and the second plane when the first optical switching module corresponding to the fourth optical switching module fails.

[0028] In the above design, multiple third optical switching modules are deployed to achieve 1:1 protection for the first optical switching modules used on multiple planes, thereby improving the reliability of the system.

[0029] In one possible design, P1 = 1, and the system also includes L third optical switching modules and L first optical splitter groups. The L third optical switching modules correspond one-to-one with the L planes. In the first plane, the number of output ports of each of the M1 first optical modules is greater than or equal to M1 + L. In the second plane, the number of input ports of each of the M1 second optical modules is greater than or equal to M1 + L. L-1 first output ports of each first optical module in the first plane are used to connect one-to-one with the L-1 first optical switching modules in the L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules. The second output ports of each first optical module in the first plane are used to connect with the input ports of the third optical switching modules corresponding to the first plane in the L third optical switching modules. The M1 output ports of the third optical switching modules corresponding to the first plane are connected one-to-one with the M1 input ports of the second optical splitter groups, which are the optical splitter groups corresponding to the first plane in the L first optical splitter groups. The second optical splitter group includes M1 optical splitters, each of which includes an input port and an L-1 output port. Each optical splitter in the second optical splitter group has L-1 output ports connected to the second input ports of a second optical module in each of the L-1 planes (excluding the first plane). Different optical splitters in the second optical splitter group are connected to different second optical modules. A fourth optical switching module, when the fifth optical switching module in the first plane fails, sends the optical signal from the first plane input through its first output port to the corresponding optical splitter. The fourth optical switching module is the third optical switching module in the L-th optical switching module corresponding to the first plane, and the fifth optical switching module is the first optical switching module used for connection between the first and second planes. The optical splitter connected to the first output port of the fourth optical switching module is used to switch the received optical signal from the first plane to the second plane through its output port connected to the second plane.

[0030] In the above scheme, the number of protection optical switching modules used in inter-plane connections and the number of ports occupied by optical modules in the plane are reduced by adding optical splitting modules, thereby further reducing the difficulty of dimensional expansion. Furthermore, the use of protection optical switching modules improves system reliability.

[0031] In one possible design, the first optical module is a wavelength selective switch (WSS) or an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG).

[0032] In one possible design, the second optical module is a wavelength selective switch (WSS) or an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG).

[0033] In one possible design, the first optical switching module is either a port-level optical cross-connect (OXC) device or a wavelength-level OXC device.

[0034] In one possible design, the wavelength-level OXC device includes a wavelength selective switch (WSS).

[0035] In one possible design, the first optical switching module is a port-level optical cross-connect (OXC) device. The first optical switching module is used to switch a first optical signal input from the first plane at the input port to an output port, so as to output it to the second plane through the output port. The first optical signal includes optical signals of one or more wavelengths.

[0036] In one possible design, the first optical switching module is a wavelength-level optical cross-connect (OXC) device. The first optical switching module is used to split the first optical signal input from the input port into g third optical signals, and output them to g second optical modules in the second plane through the g output ports of the first optical switching module. Each of the g third optical signals includes an optical signal of at least one wavelength, and the wavelengths of the signals included in different third optical signals are different.

[0037] In one possible design, M1 first optical modules and M1 second optical modules in the first plane are connected by a first optical backplane mesh in the first plane; M1 first optical modules and M1 second optical modules in the second plane are connected by a second optical backplane mesh in the first plane; the M1 first optical modules are connected to a first optical switching module through the first optical backplane, and the M2 second optical modules are connected to the first optical switching module through the second optical backplane.

[0038] In one possible design, the first optical backplane and the second optical backplane each include one or more ports for connecting to the first optical switching module.

[0039] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method applied to an interconnection device. The interconnection system includes at least P1 first optical switching modules, a first plane, and a second plane. The first plane includes M1 first optical modules on the input side and M1 second optical modules on the output side. The second plane includes M2 first optical modules on the input side and M2 second optical modules on the output side. The M1 first optical modules and M1 second optical modules are meshed together in the first plane, and the M2 first optical modules and M2 second optical modules are meshed together in the second plane. M1 and M2 are integers greater than 1, and P1 is a positive integer.

[0040] In the first plane, at least one first output port of each of the K1 first optical modules is connected to at least one input port of the P1 first optical switching modules. Different first optical modules in the first plane are connected to different input ports of the same first optical switching module. Different first output ports of the same first optical module in the first plane are connected to different first optical switching modules. The first output port of the first optical module is the output port of the first optical module other than the output port used for in-plane mesh connection. K1 is a positive integer and K1 is less than or equal to min(M1, M2).

[0041] In the second plane, each of the K1 second optical modules has at least one first input port connected to at least one output port of a first optical switching module. Different second optical modules in the second plane are connected to different input ports of the same first optical switching module. Different first input ports of the same second optical module in the second plane are connected to different first optical switching modules. The first input port of the second optical module is the input port included in the second optical module except for the input port used for in-plane mesh connection.

[0042] The method includes: splitting a received first optical signal into a second optical signal to be transmitted to a second plane using a third optical module in a first plane; the third optical module is any one of the M1 first optical modules included in the first plane; sending the second optical signal to a first optical switching module connected to the third output port through the third output port of the third optical module; the third output port of the third optical module is one of the first output ports included in the third optical module; and switching the second optical signal to the second plane through the first optical switching module connected to the third output port.

[0043] In one possible design, the first optical switching module is a port-level optical cross-connect (OXC) device; the second optical signal is an optical signal to be sent to the fourth optical module of the second plane; the first optical switching module connected through the third output port switches the second optical signal to the second plane, including: the first optical switching module connected through the third output port switches the second optical signal to the fourth output port, the fourth output port is connected to the fourth optical module, and the fourth optical module is one of the M2 second optical modules included in the second plane.

[0044] In one possible design, the first optical switching module is a wavelength-level OXC device; the first optical switching module connected via the third output port switches the second optical signal to the second plane, including: the first optical switching module connected via the third output port divides the second optical signal into g third optical signals, and outputs them to g second optical modules belonging to the second plane through g fifth output ports of the first optical switching module connected via the third output port; the fifth output port is the output port of the first optical switching module connected via the third output port, and each of the g third optical signals includes an optical signal of at least one wavelength, and the wavelengths of the optical signals included in different third optical signals are different.

[0045] In one possible design, the interconnect system further includes P2 second optical switching modules; at least one first output port of each of the K2 first optical modules in the second plane is connected to the input port of at least one of the P2 second optical switching modules; the input ports of the same second optical switching module connected to different first optical modules in the second plane are different; the second optical switching modules connected to different first output ports of the same first optical module in the second plane are different; at least one first input port of each of the K2 second optical modules in the first plane is connected to the output port of at least one second optical switching module in a one-to-one correspondence; the input ports of the same second optical switching module connected to different second optical modules in the first plane are different; the second optical switching modules connected to different first input ports of the same second optical module in the first plane are different; and K2 is a positive integer and K2 is less than or equal to min(M1, M2). The method further includes: splitting the received fourth optical signal into a fifth optical signal to be transmitted to the second plane through a fifth optical module in the second plane; the fifth optical module is any one of the M2 first optical modules included in the second plane; sending the fifth optical signal to a second optical switching module connected to the sixth output port through the sixth output port of the fifth optical module; the sixth output port of the fifth optical module is one of the output ports of the fifth optical module; and switching the fifth optical signal to the first plane through the second optical switching module connected to the sixth output port.

[0046] In one possible design, the interconnect system further includes P1 third optical switching modules, each corresponding one-to-one with one of P1 first optical switching modules; at least one second output port of each of the K1 first optical modules in the first plane is connected one-to-one with at least one input port of each of the P1 third optical switching modules; different first optical modules in the first plane are connected to different input ports of the same third optical switching module, and different first output ports of the same first optical module in the first plane are connected to different third optical switching modules; at least one second input port of each of the K1 second optical modules in the second plane is connected to at least one... The output ports of a third optical switching module are connected one-to-one. Different second optical modules in the second plane are connected to different input ports of the same third optical switching module. Different first input ports of the same second optical module in the second plane are connected to different third optical switching modules. The second output port of the first optical module is any output port included in the first optical module, excluding the output ports used for mesh connections and those used for connecting to the first optical switching module. The second input port of the second optical module is any input port included in the second optical module, excluding the input ports used for mesh connections and those used for connecting to the first optical switching module. The method further includes: when the first optical switching module connected to the third output port fails, sending the second optical signal to the third optical switching module connected to the seventh output port of the third optical module; the seventh output port of the third optical module is one of the second output ports included in the third optical module; and switching the second optical signal to the second plane through the third optical switching module connected to the seventh output port.

[0047] In one possible design, the interconnect system also includes P1 third optical switching modules, Q*K1 optical splitting modules (which can also be understood as Q groups of optical splitting modules, each group including K1 optical splitting modules) and Q*K1 optical combining modules (which can also be understood as Q groups of optical combining modules, each group including K1 optical combining modules), with each of the P1 third optical switching modules corresponding one-to-one with the P1 first optical switching modules; P1 is greater than or equal to Q. In the first plane, the Q first output ports of each of the K1 first optical modules are connected one-to-one with the input ports of the Q splitting modules. The two output ports of each of the Q*K1 splitting modules are respectively connected to the input ports of a first optical switching module and a third optical switching module. Different first optical modules in the first plane are connected to different splitting modules. In the second plane, the Q first input ports of each of the K1 second optical modules are connected one-to-one with the output ports of the Q combining modules. The two output ports of each of the Q*K1 combining modules are respectively connected to the output ports of a first optical switching module and a third optical switching module. Different second optical modules in the second plane are connected to different combining modules. The method further includes: when the first optical switching module connected to the third output port fails, controlling the splitting module to connect the third output port to the third optical switching module corresponding to the first optical switching module connected to the third output port, so as to send the second optical signal to the third optical switching module corresponding to the first optical switching module connected to the third output port; the second signal is switched to the second plane through the third optical switching module corresponding to the first optical switching module connected to the third output port.

[0048] In one possible design, the number of planes in the interconnect system is L, where L is greater than 2; the first plane and the second plane belong to any two of the L planes; P1 = 1, and the system includes L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules; one first optical switching module is used for connection between two planes, and different first optical switching modules are used for connection between different planes. Specifically, in the first plane, each of the M1 first optical modules has an output port count greater than or equal to M1+L-1, and in the second plane, each of the M1 second optical modules has an input port count greater than or equal to M1+L-1. In the first plane, L-1 first output ports of each first optical module are used for one-to-one connection with L-1 first optical switching modules; in the second plane, L-1 first input ports of each second optical module are used for one-to-one connection with L-1 first optical switching modules.

[0049] The method includes: splitting a received first optical signal into a sixth optical signal to be transmitted to the third plane using a third optical module in the first plane; the third plane is any plane other than the first and second planes among L planes; sending the sixth optical signal to a first optical switching module connected to the eighth output port of the third optical module through the eighth output port of the third optical module; the eighth output port of the third optical module is one of the first output ports included in the third optical module; the first optical switching module connected to the eighth output port is used for the connection between the first plane and the third plane; and switching the sixth optical signal to the second plane through the first optical switching module connected to the eighth output port.

[0050] In one possible design, the interconnect system also includes L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules; each of the L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules corresponds one-to-one with each of the L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules. Each third optical switching module is used for connection between two planes, and different third optical switching modules are used for connection between different planes. In the first plane, the number of output ports of each of the M1 first optical modules is greater than or equal to M1+2(L-1), and in the second plane, the number of input ports of each of the M1 second optical modules is greater than or equal to M1+2*(L-1). L-1 first output ports of each first optical module in the first plane are used for one-to-one connection with the L-1 first optical switching modules in the L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules. In each first optical module in the first plane, L-1 second output ports are used to connect one-to-one with L-1 third optical switching modules in L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules; the L-1 first output ports and L-1 second output ports of the first optical module are different output ports other than the M1 output ports used for mesh connection in the plane among the at least M1+2(L-1) output ports included in the first optical module. In the second plane, each second optical module has L-1 first input ports for one-to-one connection with L-1 of the L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules; each second optical module in the second plane has L-1 second input ports for one-to-one connection with L-1 of the L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules; the L-1 first input ports and L-1 second input ports of the second optical module are different output ports other than the M1 output ports used for mesh connections within the plane among the at least M1+2(L-1) input ports included in the second optical module. The method further includes: when the first optical switching module corresponding to the fourth optical switching module fails, switching the optical signal from the first plane input through the fourth optical switching module's input port to the second plane through one of its output ports; the fourth optical switching module is the third optical switching module among the L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules used for connections between the first and second planes.

[0051] In one possible design, the interconnect system also includes L third optical switching modules and L first optical splitter groups, with the L third optical switching modules corresponding one-to-one with L planes; in the first plane, the number of output ports of each of the M1 first optical modules is greater than or equal to M1+L, and the number of input ports of each of the M1 second optical modules in the second plane is greater than or equal to M1+L; L-1 first output ports of each first optical module in the first plane are used to connect one-to-one with the L-1 first optical switching modules in the L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules; and the second output port of each first optical module in the first plane is used to connect with the L third optical switching modules. The input port of the third optical switching module corresponding to the first plane is connected; the M1 output ports of the third optical switching module corresponding to the first plane are connected one-to-one with the M1 input ports of the second optical splitting module group. The second optical splitting module group is the optical splitting module group corresponding to the first plane among L optical splitting module groups; the second optical splitting module group includes M1 optical splitting modules, and each of the M1 optical splitting modules includes one input port and L-1 output ports; the L-1 output ports of each optical splitting module in the second optical splitting module group are respectively connected to the second input ports of a second optical module in L-1 planes other than the first plane; different optical splitting modules in the second optical splitting module group are connected to different second optical modules. The method further includes: when the fifth optical switching module in the first plane fails, the optical signal from the first plane input through the input port of the fourth optical switching module is sent to the corresponding splitter module through the first output port of the fourth optical switching module; the fourth optical switching module is the third optical switching module in the third optical switching module corresponding to the first plane, and the fifth optical switching module is the first optical switching module used for connection between the first plane and the second plane; the splitter module connected through the first output port of the fourth optical switching module exchanges the received optical signal from the first plane to the second plane through the output port connected to the second plane.

[0052] The beneficial effects of the second aspect mentioned above can be found in the relevant description of the first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0053] Based on the implementations provided in the above aspects, this application can be further combined to provide more implementations. Attached Figure Description

[0054] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the splitting method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0055] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a split-station scheme;

[0056] Figure 3A is a schematic diagram of the interconnected system architecture provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0057] Figure 3B is a schematic diagram of the interconnected system architecture provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0058] Figure 4A is a schematic diagram of an interconnected system architecture provided in Example 1 of the embodiments of this application;

[0059] Figure 4B is a schematic diagram of another interconnected system architecture provided in Example 1 of the embodiments of this application;

[0060] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of an interconnected system architecture provided in Example 2 of this application;

[0061] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of an interconnected system architecture provided in Example 3 of this application;

[0062] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of an interconnected system architecture provided in Example 4 of this application;

[0063] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of another interconnected system architecture provided in Example 4 of the present application;

[0064] Figure 9A is a schematic diagram of an interconnected system architecture provided in Example 5 of this application;

[0065] Figure 9B is a schematic diagram of an interconnected system architecture provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0066] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of an interconnected system architecture provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0067] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of an interconnected system architecture provided in Example Six of the present application;

[0068] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of an interconnected system architecture provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0069] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of an interconnected system architecture provided in Example 7 of this application;

[0070] Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of an interconnected system architecture provided in Example 8 of this application;

[0071] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of another interconnected system architecture provided in Example 8 of the present application;

[0072] Figure 16 is a schematic diagram of an interconnected system architecture provided in Example 9 of this application;

[0073] Figure 17 is a schematic diagram of another interconnected system architecture provided in Example 9 of the present application;

[0074] Figure 18 is a schematic diagram of an interconnected system architecture for a protection scenario provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0075] Figure 19 is a schematic diagram of a multi-plane interconnected system architecture provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0076] Figure 20 is a schematic diagram of another multi-plane interconnected system architecture provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0077] Figure 21 is a schematic diagram of another multi-plane interconnection system architecture provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0078] Figure 22 is a schematic diagram of another multi-plane interconnection system architecture provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0079] Figure 23 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0080] Figure 24 is a schematic diagram of an interconnected system architecture provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0081] The technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0082] In the description of this application, unless otherwise stated, "multiple" refers to two or more. Additionally, " / " indicates that the related objects are in an "or" relationship; for example, A / B can represent A or B. "And / or" in this application merely describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, and B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. Furthermore, to facilitate a clear description of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, the terms "first" and "second" are used in the embodiments to distinguish identical or similar items with essentially the same function and effect. Those skilled in the art will understand that the terms "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity or execution order, and that "first" and "second" are not necessarily different. It should also be noted that, unless specifically stated, the specific description of some technical features in one embodiment can also be used to explain the corresponding technical features mentioned in other embodiments.

[0083] With the development of digital services, the requirements for network dimensions are becoming increasingly stringent. Currently, in addition to the commercially available 9D, 20D, and 32D WSS (Wireless Switching System), scenarios and demands exceeding 32D are emerging. However, as the number of ports required for WSS increases, the manufacturing process also becomes more complex. Therefore, split-site architecture can be used to increase dimensions. For example, new nodes can be added in parallel to the same node. See Figure 1, which illustrates the split-site architecture provided in this embodiment. Referring to Figure 1, when channel resources are insufficient, optical layer resources can be added to the existing network topology; when node dimensions are insufficient, parallel nodes can be added.

[0084] To reduce transmission latency, all Dynamic Optical Add / Drop Multiplexer (ROADM) sites are interconnected using a full mesh. A ROADM site can also be understood as a plane, with each WSS (Wireless Switching Site) within that plane interconnected via a mesh. For example, as shown in Figure 2, the plane includes N input-side WSSs and N output-side WSSs. The input-side WSSs have a 1*N specification, meaning they include one input port and N output ports. The output-side WSSs have an N*1 specification, meaning they have N input ports and one output port. Each input-side WSS's N output ports are connected one-to-one with the N output-side WSSs within the same plane. Similarly, each output-side WSS's N input ports are connected one-to-one with the N input-side WSSs within the plane.

[0085] Due to the port limit of WSS, in scenarios requiring greater dimensionality for new construction or expansion, a split-site approach can be used, employing multiple planes to increase dimensionality. For example, consider two planes: Plane 1 and Plane 2. The WSSs in Plane 1 are interconnected via mesh, and the WSSs in Plane 2 are also interconnected via mesh. For instance, Plane 1 includes N input-side WSSs and N output-side WSSs, and Plane 2 also includes N input (in)-side WSSs and N output (out)-side WSSs. The input-side WSSs have a specification of 1*N, meaning one input port and N output ports, while the output-side WSSs have a specification of N*1, meaning N input ports and one output port. Each input-side WSS has N output ports connected one-to-one with the N output-side WSSs within the same plane.

[0086] When two planes need to be interconnected, plane 1 requires at least one input port of the input-side WSS and one output port of the output-side WSS, such as the input port of WSS1-1 and the output port of WSS1-2. Plane 2 requires at least one input port of the input-side WSS and one output port of the output-side WSS, such as the input port of WSS2-1 and the output port of WSS2-2. The input port of WSS1-1 in plane 1 is connected to the output port of WSS2-2 in plane 2, and the output port of WSS2-1 in plane 1 is connected to the input port of WSS2-1 in plane 2. As can be seen, plane 1 originally had N dimensions, and plane 2 originally had N dimensions. After interconnecting planes 1 and 2, the original dimensions of planes 1 and 2 are reduced. If multiple ports are used for interconnecting two planes, ports of multiple dimensions need to be reserved to achieve the interconnection. If multiple planes need to be interconnected, ports of even more dimensions need to be reserved for each plane, making further evolution of dimensions difficult.

[0087] Based on this, this application provides an interconnection system in which two planes are interconnected through one or more optical switching modules. The interconnection is achieved through the output port of the optical module on the input side and the input port of the optical module on the output side in each plane. This does not occupy the dimensional ports of the original plane, reduces the difficulty of increasing the network dimension of the original deployment, and eliminates the need to reserve dimensional slots in advance for capacity expansion.

[0088] The interconnection system provided in the embodiments of this application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The interconnection system may include at least two planes and one or more optical switching modules. Each plane includes multiple optical modules on the input side and multiple optical modules on the output side. The number of optical modules on different planes may be the same or different. The specifications of the optical modules on the input side and the optical modules on the output side may be the same or different. The planes are interconnected through one or more optical switching modules. Taking the first plane and the second plane as examples, the first plane and the second plane are any two planes in the multiple planes. The first plane is connected to the input port of at least one optical switching module through at least one output port of each optical module on the input side. The second plane is connected to the output port of at least one optical switching module through at least one input port of each optical module on the output side. It should be noted that in the description of the embodiments of this application, the output port of one module and the input port of another module are connected one-to-one. For ease of description, the optical module on the input side is referred to as the first optical module, and the optical module on the output side is referred to as the second optical module. The output port in the first optical module used for interplane interconnection is called the first output port, and the input port in the second optical module used for interplane interconnection is called the first input port.

[0089] In some implementation scenarios, the output port of the first optical module on the input side can also be called the drop module (DM) port or simply the drop port, and the input port of the first optical module on the output side can also be called the add module (AM) port or simply the add port.

[0090] The first optical module on the input side may include one or more input ports. The first optical module supports input in one band or multiple bands. In some embodiments, the first optical module includes one input port that supports input in one band or multiple bands. Multiple bands may include, for example, C-band and L-band. In other embodiments, the first optical module includes multiple input ports, and different input ports can be used for input in different bands. Similarly, the second optical module on the output side may include one or more output ports. The second optical module supports output in one band or multiple bands. In some embodiments, the second optical module includes one output port that supports output in one band or multiple bands. In other embodiments, the second optical module includes multiple output ports, and different output ports can be used for output in different bands.

[0091] Referring to Figures 3A and 3B, in the interconnect system, the first plane includes M1 first optical modules on the input side and M1 second optical modules on the output side. The second plane includes M2 first optical modules on the input side and M2 second optical modules on the output side. The M1 first optical modules and M1 second optical modules are meshed together in the first plane. The M2 first optical modules and M2 second optical modules are meshed together in the second plane. M1 and M2 are integers greater than 1. The dimensions of the two planes can be the same or different. When the dimensions of the two planes are the same, M1 = M2; when the dimensions of the two planes are different, M1 ≠ M2.

[0092] In one possible example, the first and second optical modules can be paired in a plane, and the paired optical modules can be deployed integratedly or separately.

[0093] In the first plane, at least one first output port of each of the K1 first optical modules is connected to the input port of at least one optical switching module. Different first optical modules in the first plane are connected to different input ports of the same optical switching module. Different first output ports of the same first optical module in the first plane are connected to different optical switching modules. In the second plane, at least one first input port of each of the K2 second optical modules is connected to the output port of the at least one optical switching module in a one-to-one correspondence. Different second optical modules in the second plane are connected to different input ports of the same optical switching module. Different first input ports of the same second optical module in the second plane are connected to different optical switching modules. K1 is a positive integer and K1 is less than or equal to M1, and K2 is a positive integer and K2 is less than or equal to M2. The optical switching module switches the optical signal from the first plane input from one input port of the optical switching module to the second plane through one output port of the optical switching module.

[0094] The connection between the first optical module and the second optical module in a plane can be achieved through an optical connection device. This optical connection device can be a fiber optic box or an optical backplane (hereinafter referred to as a backplane), and can also be other components; no specific limitations are made here. For example, connections between different planes can also be implemented using an optical connection device. In some scenarios, the connection between the first optical module and the second optical module in a plane, as well as the connection between an optical module and an optical switching module, can also be achieved using the same or the same set of optical backplanes. In this case, part of the backplane connects to the first optical module on the left, part connects to the second optical module on the right, and another part connects to the optical switching module.

[0095] Figure 3B illustrates an example of a mesh connection between planes implemented via a backplane. For instance, a first optical signal enters from the input port of a first optical module on the first plane. For ease of description, this first optical module is referred to as the third optical module. The third optical module demultiplexes the received first optical signal to extract a second optical signal to be transmitted to the second plane; the third output port of the third optical module sends the second optical signal to a first optical switching module connected to the third output port; the third output port of the third optical module is one of the first output ports included in the third optical module; the first optical switching module connected to the third output port switches the second optical signal to the second plane. For example, in Figure 3B, the second optical module (or module number 2) on the first plane receives the first optical signal, then module number 2 demultiplexes the first optical signal to extract the second optical signal, outputs the second optical signal from the output port connected to the first optical switching module, and then the first optical switching module switches the second optical signal to the second plane.

[0096] For example, in the embodiments of this application, the optical module on the input side can be a wavelength selective switch (WSS), an array waveguide grating (AWG), or other devices capable of wavelength division. The optical module on the output side can also be a WSS, an AWG, or other devices capable of wavelength division. The optical switching module can be an optical cross-connect (OXC) using port-level optical switching technology or an OXC using wavelength-level optical switching technology. For example, a wavelength-level OXC can be a WSS, such as a liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS), a liquid crystal (LC), or a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS). A port-level OXC (or port-level OCS) can be, for example, a MEMS, an LC, a piezoelectric ceramic, or a waveguide.

[0097] In some possible implementation scenarios, when the optical switching module uses a port-level OXC, the optical switching module achieves port-level switching between two planes, switching all signals input from one input port to one output port. The input signal can include signals of one or more wavelengths. For example, referring to the previous example, the first optical switching module connected through the third output port switches the second optical signal to the fourth output port. The fourth output port is connected to the fourth optical module, which is one of the M2 second optical modules included in the second plane. Referring again to Figure 3B, the first optical module of the second path (or number 2) in the first plane receives the first optical signal, and then the number 2 first optical module splits the first optical signal from the first optical signal and outputs the second optical signal from the output port connected to the first optical switching module back to the first optical switching module. For example, the fourth optical module is the number 2 second optical module in the second plane. The first optical switching module switches the second optical signal to the number 2 second optical module.

[0098] In other possible implementation scenarios, when the optical switching module adopts wavelength-level OXC, the optical switching module achieves wavelength-level switching between two planes. The optical switching module can switch signals of different wavelengths input to one port to different output ports. For example, a signal with wavelength λ1 input to one input port can be switched to one output port, and a signal with wavelength λ2 can be switched to another output port. The input signal can include signals of multiple wavelengths. For example, referring to the previous example, the first optical switching module connected through the third output port switches the third optical signal of multiple wavelengths in the second optical signal to multiple fifth output ports, and the multiple fifth output ports are respectively coupled to multiple second optical modules belonging to the second plane. The fifth output port is the output port of the first optical switching module connected to the third output port. Referring to Figure 3B, the first optical module of the second path (or number 2) in the first plane receives the first optical signal, and then the second optical module splits the second optical signal from the first optical signal and outputs the second optical signal from the output port connected to the first optical switching module back to the first optical switching module. For example, the second optical signal includes a third optical signal of multiple wavelengths. The first optical switching module splits the second optical signal into multiple wavelengths of third optical signal, and then switches these multiple wavelengths of third optical signal to multiple output ports (referred to as the fifth output port), so that the multiple wavelengths of third optical signal reach multiple second optical modules on the second plane. It should be noted that the first optical switching module can support switching different wavelengths to different output ports, and can also support switching different bands to different output ports.

[0099] The number of optical switching modules used can vary depending on the implementation scenario. For example, if no mesh connection is needed between the two planes, one optical switching module can be used if the number of ports on the optical switching module is greater than or equal to the number of inter-plane optical module connections. Multiple optical switching modules can be used if the number of ports is less than the number of inter-plane optical module connections. Similarly, if a mesh connection is needed between the two planes, one optical switching module can be used if the number of ports on the optical switching module is greater than or equal to the maximum dimension of the two planes. Multiple optical switching modules can be used if the number of ports is less than the maximum dimension of the two planes.

[0100] The following is an exemplary description of the structure of an interconnected system in scenarios with different numbers (or port numbers) of optical switching modules.

[0101] Example 1:

[0102] An optical switching module is used to achieve signal switching from the first plane to the second plane. The connection between the first plane and the second plane is a mesh connection, i.e., K1 = M1 and K2 = M2.

[0103] For ease of description, this optical switching module will be referred to as the first optical switching module. Taking M1 = M2 as an example, the number of input ports of the first optical switching module is greater than or equal to M1 (or M2). The first optical module includes one input port and at least M1+1 output ports, and the second optical module includes at least M1+1 input ports and one output port.

[0104] Referring to Figure 4A, each of the M1 output ports of the first optical module in the first plane is connected one-to-one with one of the M1 second optical modules in the first plane to achieve mesh connectivity in the first plane. Different first optical modules in the first plane connect to different input ports of the same second optical module. The first output port of each of the M1 first optical modules in the first plane is connected to one input port of a first optical switching module, and different first optical modules connect to different input ports of the first optical switching modules. In other words, each first optical module in the first plane takes one output port and connects it to a first optical switching module. For ease of distinction, this output port of the first optical module is referred to as the first output port. That is, the first output port is one of the at least M1+1 output ports included in the first optical module of the first plane, excluding the aforementioned M1 output ports.

[0105] Each of the M1 output ports of the first optical module in the second plane is connected one-to-one with one of the M1 second optical modules in the first plane to achieve mesh connectivity in the second plane. Different first optical modules in the second plane connect to different input ports of the same second optical module. Each of the M1 second optical modules in the second plane has its first input port connected to one output port of a first optical switching module; different second optical modules connect to different output ports of the first optical switching modules. In other words, each second optical module in the second plane uses one input port to connect to a first optical switching module. For ease of distinction, this input port of the second optical module is referred to as the first input port. That is, the first input port is one of the at least M1+1 input ports included in the second optical module of the second plane, excluding the aforementioned M1 input ports.

[0106] In some embodiments of this application, a portion of the M1 first optical modules in the first plane can be used on the line side, and another portion can be used on the tributary side (i.e., for local up-wave). Similarly, a portion of the M1 second optical modules in the first plane can be used on the line side, and another portion can be used on the tributary side (i.e., for local down-wave). The number of optical modules (including first and second optical modules) used on the line side in the first plane can be greater than, less than, or equal to, the number of optical modules used on the tributary side; this application does not limit this. Likewise, a portion of the M1 first optical modules in the second plane can be used on the line side, and another portion can be used on the tributary side (i.e., for local up-wave). The number of optical modules (including first and second optical modules) used on the line side in the second plane can be greater than, less than, or equal to, the number of optical modules used on the tributary side; this application does not limit this. For example, as shown in Figure 4B, the line side includes path S1, and the branch side includes path S2. S1 + S2 = M1.

[0107] In one possible implementation, this application can also be applied to a scenario of signal switching from a second plane to a first plane. In this scenario, the optical switching module used for signal switching from the second plane to the first plane can be the same as or different from the optical switching module used for signal switching from the first plane to the second plane.

[0108] Example 2:

[0109] The optical switching module used for signal exchange from the second plane to the first plane is the same as the optical switching module used for signal exchange from the first plane to the second plane. In Example 2, this same optical switching module is referred to as the first optical switching module. It can be understood that the first optical switching module in Example 1 can realize bidirectional signal exchange between planes.

[0110] The connection between the first and second planes is exemplified by a mesh connection. Taking M1 = M2 as an example, the first optical module includes one input port and at least M1+1 output ports, and the second optical module includes at least M1+1 input ports and one output port. In the first plane, M1 first optical modules and M1 second optical modules are mesh connected. In the second plane, M1 first optical modules and M1 second optical modules are also mesh connected. For specific connection methods, please refer to the description of the embodiment corresponding to Figure 4A, which will not be repeated here.

[0111] The first optical switching module has a number of input ports greater than or equal to 2*M1 (or 2*M2) and a number of output ports greater than or equal to 2*M1 (or 2*M2). Referring to Figure 5, M1 input ports and M1 output ports of the first optical switching module are used to achieve signal switching from the first plane to the second plane. The remaining M1 input ports and M1 output ports of the first optical switching module are used to achieve signal switching from the first plane to the second plane. The M1 first input ports of the first optical switching module are connected one-to-one with the M1 first optical modules in the first plane, and the M1 second input ports of the first optical switching module are connected one-to-one with the M1 first optical modules in the second plane. The M1 first output ports of the first optical switching module are connected one-to-one with the M1 second optical modules in the second plane, and the M1 second output ports of the first optical switching module are connected one-to-one with the M1 second optical modules in the first plane. The M1 first input ports and M1 second input ports belong to the input ports of the first optical switching module and are not identical. M1 first output ports and M1 second output ports belong to the output ports of the first optical switching module, and are not the same.

[0112] The first optical switching module realizes signal switching from the first plane to the second plane through M1 first input ports and M1 first output ports. Specifically, the first optical switching module is used to switch the optical signal from the first plane input from one of the first input ports to one of the first output ports, that is, to a second optical module in the second plane.

[0113] The first optical switching module achieves signal switching from the second plane to the first plane through M1 second input ports and M1 second output ports. Specifically, the first optical switching module is used to switch an optical signal from the second plane input through a first input port to a first output port, that is, to a second optical module on the first plane.

[0114] Example 3:

[0115] The optical switching module used for signal switching from the second plane to the first plane is different from the optical switching module used for signal switching from the first plane to the second plane. For ease of distinction, the optical switching module used for signal switching from the first plane to the second plane will be referred to as the first optical switching module, and the optical switching module used for signal switching from the second plane to the first plane will be referred to as the second optical switching module. Taking a mesh connection between the first and second planes as an example, with M1 = M2, the first optical switching module includes at least M1 input ports and at least M1 output ports, and the second optical switching module includes at least M1 input ports and at least M1 output ports.

[0116] Referring to Figure 6, the first optical module includes one input port and at least M1+1 output ports, and the second optical module includes at least M1+1 input ports and one output port. Each of the M1 output ports in the first optical module within the first plane is connected one-to-one with each of the M1 second optical modules within the first plane to achieve mesh connectivity in the first plane. Different first optical modules within the first plane connect to different input ports of the same second optical module. Each of the M1 first optical modules within the first plane has its first output port connected to one input port of its corresponding first optical switching module. Different first optical modules connect to different input ports of their respective first optical switching modules; that is, the M1 input ports of the first optical switching module are connected one-to-one with the M1 first optical modules in the first plane. Similarly, each of the M1 output ports in the first optical module within the second plane is connected one-to-one with each of the M1 second optical modules within the first plane to achieve mesh connectivity in the second plane. In the second plane, the first input port of each of the M1 second optical modules is connected to one output port of the first optical switching module. Different second optical modules are connected to different output ports of the first optical switching module. The M1 output ports of the first optical switching module are connected one-to-one with the M1 second optical modules in the second plane. Specifically, the connection relationship between the first optical module, the first optical switching module, and the second optical modules can be found in the description of the embodiment corresponding to Figure 4A, which will not be repeated here.

[0117] In the second plane, the first output port of each of the M1 first optical modules is connected to one input port of the second optical switching module. Different first optical modules are connected to different input ports of the second optical switching module; that is, the M1 input ports of the second optical switching module are connected one-to-one with the M1 first optical modules in the second plane. Similarly, in the first plane, the first input port of each of the M1 second optical modules is connected to one output port of the first optical switching module. Different second optical modules are connected to different output ports of the first optical switching module; that is, the M1 output ports of the second optical switching module are connected one-to-one with the M1 second optical modules in the first plane.

[0118] The first optical switching module achieves signal switching from the first plane to the second plane through M1 input ports and M1 output ports. Specifically, the first optical switching module is used to switch the optical signal from the first plane input to one input port, that is, to a second optical module in the second plane.

[0119] The second optical switching module achieves signal switching from the second plane to the first plane through M1 input ports and M1 output ports. Specifically, the second optical switching module is used to switch the optical signal from the second plane input to one input port to another second optical module in the first plane.

[0120] Example 4:

[0121] The number of ports on an optical switching module is less than the number of optical modules within a plane (i.e., the plane's dimension). To achieve mesh connectivity between planes, multiple optical switching modules can be used. For example, the first plane may contain M1 first optical modules and M1 second optical modules. The second plane may contain M1 first optical modules and M1 second optical modules. Since the number of optical switching modules is less than M1, multiple optical switching modules can be used to achieve signal switching from one plane to another, i.e., multiple optical switching modules can be used to achieve mesh connectivity between the two planes. The required number of optical switching modules is greater than or equal to 4. The specification of the first optical switching module is b*b, M1=M2=K1, M1 / b=U, then P1=U 2 U is a positive integer. That is, the number of optical switching modules required is U. 2 As an example, taking a plane with dimensions of 32 as an example, the optical switching module has 16 ports, i.e., a specification of 16*16. A full mesh connection from one plane to another can be achieved using four optical switching modules. Each first optical module requires two output ports, and each second optical module requires two input ports, used to implement the mesh connection between the two planes.

[0122] Referring to Figure 7, the first plane includes 32 first optical modules and 32 second optical modules. The second plane includes 32 first optical modules and 32 second optical modules. There are four optical switching modules, designated as Optical Switching Module 1 to Optical Switching Module 4. The 32 first optical modules and 32 second optical modules are mesh-interconnected in the first plane, and the same applies to the second plane. Each first optical module has at least 34 output ports, and each second optical module has at least 34 output ports. 32 output ports of the first optical modules are used for mesh interconnection within the plane, and the remaining two output ports are connected to the two optical switching modules. 32 input ports of the second optical modules are used for mesh interconnection within the plane, and the remaining two input ports are used to connect to the two optical switching modules. In Figure 7, each of Optical Switching Modules 1 to 4 connects to 16 first optical modules and 16 second optical modules. Each first optical module connects to different optical switching modules through two output ports. Each second optical module connects to different optical switching modules through two input ports. Figure 7 illustrates one connection method, which is only an example and is not limited to any specific method. Any method that can achieve the interconnection between the first optical module in the first plane and the second optical module in the second plane is applicable to this application.

[0123] In one possible implementation scenario, an optical switching module is also needed to achieve signal switching from the second plane to the first plane. In one possible example, based on Figure 7, four more optical switching modules are used to achieve signal switching from the second plane to the first plane, as shown in Figure 8.

[0124] Example 5:

[0125] In some possible implementation scenarios, mesh connectivity between planes is blocked, meaning the connection between planes is not a mesh connection. Interplane connectivity can be achieved using one or more optical switching modules. K1 is less than M1, and K2 is less than M2. Let's take the implementation of interplane connectivity using a single optical switching module as an example.

[0126] In the first plane, the output port of each of the K1 first optical modules is connected to the input port of a corresponding optical switching module. Different first optical modules in the first plane are connected to different input ports of the same optical switching module. In the second plane, the first input port of each of the K2 second optical modules is connected to the output port of the optical switching module in a one-to-one correspondence. Different second optical modules in the second plane are connected to different input ports of the same optical switching module. The optical switching module switches the optical signal from the first plane input through one of its input ports to the second plane via one of its output ports.

[0127] In one possible implementation scenario, an optical switching module is also needed to realize signal switching from the second plane to the first plane.

[0128] In one possible example, signal switching from the first plane to the second plane and from the second plane to the first plane can be achieved using the same optical switching module. Referring to Figure 9A, taking a 6*6 optical switching module as an example, K1 = K2 = 2. Both the first and second planes each have a fixed number of slots (K1 slots can be lines, branches, or a combination of lines and branches). A slot can also be understood as a port.

[0129] In another possible example, signal switching from the first plane to the second plane and from the second plane to the first plane can also be achieved through different optical switching modules.

[0130] In some possible implementation scenarios, where the dimensions of the first and second planes differ, the dimension M1 of the first plane is greater than the dimension M2 of the second plane. If the number of ports of the optical switching module is greater than or equal to 2*M1, a single optical switching module can be used to achieve a mesh connection (bidirectional signal transmission) between the two planes. If the number of ports of the optical switching module is less than 2*M1, multiple optical switching modules can be used to achieve a mesh connection between the two planes. For example, if M1 = 2*M2, and the number of ports of the first optical switching module is greater than or equal to 2*M2 and less than 2*M1, two first optical switching modules can be used, requiring two ports of the second optical module to achieve the connection. For example, as shown in Figure 9B, with M1 = 12 and M2 = 6, the first optical switching module has 6 ports in one signal transmission direction and 12 ports in the bidirectional signal transmission direction.

[0131] The above describes the structure of the switching device from the perspective of two planes. In some possible implementation scenarios, switching between multiple planes can also be achieved, such as L planes. Each pair of L planes is connected through one or more optical switching modules. The connection methods between pairs of planes can be found in the description of the connection between the first and second planes above.

[0132] In one possible implementation scenario, where only one optical switching module is needed to achieve mesh connectivity between two planes, then L planes would require L*(L-1) / 2 optical switching modules. Referring to Figure 10, two planes require 1 optical switching module, three planes require 3 optical switching modules, four planes require 6 optical switching modules, and so on.

[0133] In another possible implementation scenario, multiple optical switching modules are needed to achieve mesh connectivity between two planes, so L planes would require even more optical switching modules to achieve mesh connectivity.

[0134] In another possible implementation scenario, where multiple planes are involved, interconnections between any two planes may be blocked, meaning mesh connections between planes may not be necessary. Inter-plane connections can utilize multiple optical switching modules or a single optical switching module, depending on the number of connections and the specifications of the optical switching modules. Of course, in some possible implementation scenarios, mesh connections can be used between some planes, while non-mesh connections are used due to blockages between other planes. In this case, optical switching modules of different specifications can be used for interconnections between multiple planes, and the specific specifications of the optical switching modules can be selected based on requirements.

[0135] In another possible implementation scenario, the connection between L planes can be achieved with only one optical switching module. It should be understood that, given the small in-plane dimensions and the large size of the optical switching module, the mesh connection between L planes can also be achieved with only one optical switching module.

[0136] Example 6:

[0137] A partial connection between L planes requires only one optical switching module, as shown in Figure 11. Taking L=4 as an example, these represent planes 1 to 4. In plane 1, the first and second optical modules are mesh-connected. In plane 2, the first and second optical modules are mesh-connected. In plane 3, the first and second optical modules are mesh-connected. In plane 4, the first and second optical modules are mesh-connected. Example 6 illustrates the use of three dimensions for inter-plane connections. The three dimensions used in the planes can be the line side, the tributary side, or both; this embodiment does not limit this.

[0138] In some possible implementation scenarios, to prevent signal transmission between planes from failing due to optical switching module failure, protective optical switching modules can be deployed in the interconnect system. The deployment of protective optical switching modules can be applied to two planes or multiple planes. The number of protective optical switching modules deployed can be the same as or different from the number of operational optical switching modules. To distinguish them from the aforementioned operational optical switching modules, the protective optical switching modules are referred to as third optical switching modules.

[0139] In one possible implementation, the output port of the first optical module and the input port of the second optical module need to be occupied. Interconnection between any two planes is achieved through one or more first optical switching modules. Interconnection between any two planes is also achieved through one or more third optical switching modules.

[0140] Taking a first plane and a second plane among multiple planes as examples, the first plane and the second plane are any two planes among the multiple planes. The first plane is connected to the input port of at least one first optical switching module through at least one first output port of each of the one or more first optical modules. Furthermore, the first plane is connected to the input port of at least one third optical switching module through at least one third output port of each of the one or more first optical modules. The second plane is connected to the output port of at least one first optical switching module through at least one first input port of each of the one or more first optical modules. The output port of the first optical module used for connection to the working optical switching module is called the first output port, and the output port used for connection to the protection optical switching module is called the third output port. Similarly, the input port of the second optical module used for connection to the working optical switching module is called the first input port, and the input port used for connection to the protection optical switching module is called the third input port.

[0141] Referring to Figure 12, in the interconnect system, the first plane includes M1 first optical modules on the input side and M1 second optical modules on the output side. The second plane includes M2 first optical modules on the input side and M2 second optical modules on the output side. The M1 first optical modules and M1 second optical modules are meshed together in the first plane. The M2 first optical modules and M2 second optical modules are meshed together in the second plane. M1 and M2 are integers greater than 1.

[0142] In the first plane, each of the K1 first optical modules has at least one first output port connected to at least one input port of a first optical switching module. Different first optical modules in the first plane are connected to different input ports of the same first optical switching module. Different first output ports of the same first optical module in the first plane are connected to different first optical switching modules. Each of the K1 first optical modules in the first plane has at least one second output port connected to at least one input port of a third optical switching module. Different first optical modules in the first plane are connected to different input ports of the same third optical switching module. Different second output ports of the same first optical module in the first plane are connected to different third optical switching modules. The first and second output ports of the first optical modules are different output ports of the first optical modules other than those used for mesh connections. In the second plane, each of the K2 second optical modules has at least one first input port connected to a corresponding output port of the at least one first optical switching module. Different second optical modules in the second plane are connected to different input ports of the same first optical switching module. Each of the K2 second optical modules in the second plane has at least one second input port connected to a corresponding output port of the at least one third optical switching module. Different second optical modules in the second plane are connected to different input ports of the same third optical switching module. The first and second input ports of the second optical modules are different input ports within the second optical modules, excluding the input port used for mesh connections. Different first input ports belonging to the same second optical module in the second plane are connected to different first optical switching modules. Different second input ports belonging to the same second optical module in the second plane are connected to different third optical switching modules. K1 is a positive integer and K1 is less than or equal to M1, and K2 is a positive integer and K2 is less than or equal to M2. The first optical switching module switches the optical signal from the first plane input through one input port of the first optical switching module to the second plane through one output port of the first optical switching module. The third optical switching module is used to switch the optical signal from the first plane input through one input port of the third optical switching module to the second plane through one output port of the third optical switching module when the first optical switching module fails.

[0143] Example 7:

[0144] Taking the example of using a first optical switching module to achieve signal switching from the first plane to the second plane, and using a third optical switching module to protect the first optical switching module. The connection between the first plane and the second plane is a mesh connection, with K1=M1=K2=M2 as an example.

[0145] Referring to Figure 13, each of the M1 output ports of the first optical module in the first plane is connected one-to-one with each of the M1 second optical modules in the first plane to achieve mesh connectivity in the first plane. The first output port of each of the M1 first optical modules in the first plane is connected to one input port of a corresponding first optical switching module; different first optical modules are connected to different input ports of the corresponding first optical switching modules. Similarly, the second output port of each of the M1 first optical modules in the first plane is connected to one input port of a corresponding third optical switching module; different first optical modules are connected to different input ports of the corresponding third optical switching modules.

[0146] Each of the M1 output ports of the first optical module in the second plane is connected one-to-one with one of the M1 second optical modules in the first plane to achieve mesh connectivity in the second plane. Different first optical modules in the second plane connect to different input ports of the same second optical module. The first input port of each of the M1 second optical modules in the second plane is connected to one output port of a corresponding first optical switching module; different second optical modules connect to different output ports of the optical switching modules. The second input port of each of the M1 second optical modules in the second plane is connected to one output port of a corresponding third optical switching module; different second optical modules connect to different output ports of the optical switching modules.

[0147] In one possible implementation, this application is applied to a scenario of signal switching from a second plane to a first plane. In this scenario, the signal switching from the second plane to the first plane and the signal switching from the first plane to the second plane can use the same optical switching module or different optical switching modules. Similarly, the signal switching from the second plane to the first plane and the signal switching from the first plane to the second plane can use the same optical switching module for protection or different optical switching modules for protection.

[0148] Example 8:

[0149] Taking the use of a first optical switching module to achieve signal switching from the second plane to the first plane and from the first plane to the second plane as an example. The signal switching from the second plane to the first plane and from the first plane to the second plane both use the same optical switching module for protection, which is called the third optical switching module.

[0150] The connection between the first and second planes is exemplified by a mesh connection. Taking M1 = M2 as an example, the first optical module includes one input port and at least M1+2 output ports, and the second optical module includes at least M1+2 input ports and one output port. In the first plane, M1 first optical modules and M1 second optical modules are mesh connected. In the second plane, M1 first optical modules and M1 second optical modules are mesh connected. For specific connection methods, please refer to the description of the embodiment corresponding to Figure 4A, which will not be repeated here.

[0151] The first optical switching module has a number of input ports greater than or equal to 2*M1 (or 2*M2), and a number of output ports greater than or equal to 2*M1 (or 2*M2). The third optical switching module has a number of input ports greater than or equal to 2*M1 (or 2*M2), and a number of output ports greater than or equal to 2*M1 (or 2*M2). For example, a third optical switching module can be added to the switching structure described in Example 2.

[0152] Referring to Figure 14, M1 input ports and M1 output ports of the first optical switching module are used to realize signal switching from the first plane to the second plane. M1 input ports and M1 output ports of the remaining input and output ports of the first optical switching module are used to realize signal switching from the first plane to the second plane. The M1 first input ports of the first optical switching module are connected one-to-one with the M1 first optical modules in the first plane, and the M1 second input ports of the first optical switching module are connected one-to-one with the M1 first optical modules in the second plane. The M1 first output ports of the first optical switching module are connected one-to-one with the M1 second optical modules in the second plane, and the M1 second output ports of the first optical switching module are connected one-to-one with the M1 second optical modules in the first plane. The M1 first input ports and M1 second input ports are input ports of the optical switching module and are not the same. The M1 first output ports and M1 second output ports are output ports of the optical switching module and are not the same.

[0153] Similarly, M1 input ports and M1 output ports of the third optical switching module are used to realize signal switching from the first plane to the second plane. M1 input ports and M1 output ports of the remaining input and output ports of the third optical switching module are used to realize signal switching from the first plane to the second plane. The M1 first input ports of the third optical switching module are connected one-to-one with the M1 first optical modules in the first plane, and the M1 second input ports of the third optical switching module are connected one-to-one with the M1 first optical modules in the second plane. The M1 first output ports of the third optical switching module are connected one-to-one with the M1 second optical modules in the second plane, and the M1 second output ports of the third optical switching module are connected one-to-one with the M1 second optical modules in the first plane. The M1 first input ports and M1 second input ports of the third optical switching module are different input ports within the third optical switching module.

[0154] The first optical switching module achieves signal switching from the first plane to the second plane through M1 first input ports and M1 first output ports. Specifically, the first optical switching module is used to switch an optical signal from the first plane input through one of the first input ports to one of the first output ports, i.e., to a second optical module in the second plane. When the first optical switching module fails, the third optical switching module achieves signal switching from the first plane to the second plane through M1 first input ports and M1 first output ports. Specifically, the third optical switching module is used to switch an optical signal from the first plane input through one of the first input ports to one of the first output ports, i.e., to a second optical module in the second plane.

[0155] The first optical switching module achieves signal switching from the second plane to the first plane through M1 second input ports and M1 second output ports. Specifically, the first optical switching module is used to switch an optical signal from the second plane input through a first input port to a first output port, i.e., to a second optical module on the first plane. The third optical switching module is used to achieve signal switching from the second plane to the first plane through M1 second input ports and M1 second output ports when the first optical switching module fails. Specifically, the third optical switching module is used to switch an optical signal from the second plane input through a first input port to a first output port, i.e., to a second optical module on the first plane.

[0156] In one possible implementation, to reduce the occupation of the output port of the first optical module and the input port of the second optical module, a beam splitter and a beam combiner can be added. The beam splitter can be a beam splitter or an optical switch, and the beam combiner can be a beam combiner or an optical switch.

[0157] Referring to Figure 15, mesh connections are present in both the first and second planes. In the first plane, the first output port of the first optical module is connected to a splitter module. One output port of the splitter module is connected to the input port of the first optical switching module, and the other output port of the splitter module is connected to the input port of the third optical switching module. In the second plane, the first input port of the second optical module is connected to the output port of the combiner module. One input port of the combiner module is connected to the output port of the first optical switching module, and the other input port of the combiner module is connected to the input port of the third optical switching module. When the first optical switching module is operational, the input port of the splitter module is connected to the output port connected to the first optical switching module, and the output port of the combiner module is connected to the input port connected to the first optical switching module. When the first optical switching module is faulty, the input port of the splitter module is connected to the output port connected to the third optical switching module, and the output port of the combiner module is connected to the input port connected to the third optical switching module.

[0158] Example 9:

[0159] Taking the example of a different optical switching module used for signal switching from the second plane to the first plane compared to the optical switching module used for signal switching from the first plane to the second plane. For ease of distinction, the optical switching module used for signal switching from the first plane to the second plane will be called the first optical switching module, and the optical switching module used for signal switching from the second plane to the first plane will be called the second optical switching module. The optical switching module used to protect the first optical switching module for signal switching from the first plane to the second plane will be called the third optical switching module, and the optical switching module used to protect the second optical switching module for signal switching from the second plane to the first plane will be called the fourth optical switching module.

[0160] The connection between the first and second planes is exemplified by a mesh connection. Taking M1 = M2 as an example, the specifications of the first to fourth optical switching modules can be identical, including at least M1 input ports and at least M1 output ports.

[0161] In one possible implementation, the first optical module requires at least two output ports for interplane connections, one output port for connecting to the operating optical switching module and the other output port for connecting to the protective optical switching module. The second optical module requires at least two input ports for interplane connections, one input port for connecting to the operating optical switching module and the other input port for connecting to the protective optical switching module.

[0162] Referring to Figure 16, the connections between the first and second planes and the first and second optical switching modules, respectively, are as described in Example 3 and will not be repeated here. The connections between the first and second planes and the third and sixth optical switching modules are similar to those between the first and second planes and the first and second optical switching modules, and will not be described again. Unlike Example 3, the first optical module includes at least M1+2 output ports, and the second optical module includes at least M1+2 input ports. In the first plane, M1 output ports of the first optical module are used for mesh connections, and one of the remaining two output ports is connected to the first optical switching module, and the other is connected to the third optical switching module. Similarly, in the second plane, M1 input ports of the first optical module are used for mesh connections, and one of the remaining two input ports is connected to the second optical switching module, and the other is connected to the sixth optical switching module. Likewise, in the second plane, M1 output ports of the first optical module are used for mesh connections, and one of the remaining two output ports is connected to the second optical switching module, and the other is connected to the sixth optical switching module. In the second optical module of the second plane, M1 input ports are used for mesh connections. Of the remaining two input ports, one is connected to the first optical switching module, and the other is connected to the third optical switching module. Figure 16 only illustrates the connection relationship between two optical modules; the connection relationships between other optical modules are similar.

[0163] In another possible implementation, to reduce the occupancy of the output port of the first optical module and the input port of the second optical module, a beam splitter and a beam combiner can be added. The beam splitter can be a beam splitter or an optical switch, and the beam combiner can be a beam combiner or an optical switch.

[0164] Referring to Figure 17, mesh connections are present in both the first and second planes. In the first plane, the first output port of the first optical module is connected to a splitter module. One output port of the splitter module is connected to the input port of the first optical switching module, and the other output port of the splitter module is connected to the input port of the third optical switching module. In the second plane, the first input port of the second optical module is connected to the output port of the combiner module. One input port of the combiner module is connected to the output port of the first optical switching module, and the other input port of the combiner module is connected to the input port of the third optical switching module. When the first optical switching module is operational, the input port of the splitter module is connected to the output port connected to the first optical switching module, and the output port of the combiner module is connected to the input port connected to the first optical switching module. When the first optical switching module is faulty, the input port of the splitter module is connected to the output port connected to the third optical switching module, and the output port of the combiner module is connected to the input port connected to the third optical switching module. The first input port of the first optical module in the second plane is connected to a beam splitter module. One output port of the beam splitter module is connected to the input port of the second optical switching module, and the other output port of the beam splitter module is connected to the input port of the sixth optical switching module. The first input port of the second optical module in the first plane is connected to the output port of the beam combiner module. One input port of the beam combiner module is connected to the output port of the second optical switching module, and the other input port of the beam combiner module is connected to the input port of the sixth optical switching module. When the second optical switching module is in operation, the input port of the beam splitter module is connected to the output port connected to the second optical switching module, and the output port of the beam combiner module is connected to the input port connected to the second optical switching module. When the second optical switching module is in a fault state, the input port of the beam splitter module is connected to the output port connected to the sixth optical switching module, and the output port of the beam combiner module is connected to the input port connected to the sixth optical switching module.

[0165] In some possible implementation scenarios, the number of ports on the optical switching module is less than the number of optical modules within the plane (i.e., the plane's dimension). To achieve inter-plane mesh connectivity, multiple optical switching modules can be used. In these scenarios, one or more additional optical switching modules can be added to protect the working optical switching modules. In this scenario, the number of ports occupied by each optical module will increase.

[0166] In one possible implementation, for signal switching from the first plane to the second plane, please refer to the relevant description in Example 4. Specifically, additional optical switching modules can be added based on Example 4. Continuing with Figure 7 as an example, four additional optical switching modules can be added to optical switching modules 1-4 for protection.

[0167] In another possible implementation, where signal exchange between the first and second planes is required, as illustrated in Figure 7, optical switching modules 1-4 are used to achieve signal exchange from the first to the second plane, and additional optical switching modules 5-8 are added to achieve signal exchange from the second to the first plane. Furthermore, eight additional optical switching modules are added to protect optical switching modules 1-8. If any one of these optical switching modules fails, the system switches to the corresponding optical switching module to achieve inter-plane signal exchange.

[0168] To enable the connection between the optical module and the working optical switching module and the protective optical switching module, one approach is to additionally occupy the ports of the optical module.

[0169] Another approach involves adding optical combining and splitting modules. The system also includes a third optical switching module, b optical splitting modules, and b optical combining modules; the specifications of the P1 first optical switching modules are b*b, M1=M2=K1, M1 / b=U, P1=U 2 U is a positive integer. The third optical switching module has a specification of b*b. The optical combining module includes U input ports and one output port. The optical splitting module includes one input port and U output ports. The U input ports of each of the b optical combining modules are respectively connected to the input ports of a first optical switching module. Each optical combining module is connected to U first optical modules among the M1 first optical modules in the first plane. Different optical combining modules are connected to different first optical modules. The b output ports of the third optical switching module are connected one-to-one with the b optical splitting modules. Each optical splitting module is connected to U second optical modules among the M1 second optical modules in the second plane. Different optical splitting modules are connected to different second optical modules.

[0170] As an example, taking a plane with dimensions of 32, the optical switching module has 16 ports, i.e., a 16*16 specification. A full mesh connection from one plane to another can be achieved using four first optical switching modules. Each first optical module requires two output ports, and each second optical module requires two input ports to establish the mesh connection between the two planes. Furthermore, to protect the four first optical switching modules and reduce the number of optical switching modules used, a 4:1 protection scheme can be adopted, i.e., one protection optical switching module protects all four working optical switching modules. Referring to Figure 18, this is achieved by adding a splitter module group and a combiner module group between the two planes. The splitter module group includes 16 splitter modules and 16 combiner modules. The splitter module has a 1*2 specification, i.e., one input port and two output ports. The combiner module has a 2*1 specification, i.e., two input ports and one output port. Figure 18 illustrates only the connection relationship between 4 first optical modules and 4 second optical modules. Each first optical module connects to two first optical switching modules, and similarly, each second optical module connects to two first optical switching modules. Every two first optical modules connect to a combining module, and every two second optical modules connect to a splitting module. The third optical switching module connects to 16 combining modules and 16 splitting modules.

[0171] Each first optical module occupies an additional output port for connecting to the protection optical switching module (i.e., the third optical switching module), and each second optical module occupies an additional output port for connecting to the third optical switching module, as shown in Figure 18. When a first optical switching module fails, for example, when the first optical switching module connecting optical modules 1 and 2 fails, the light can be transmitted to the third optical switching module through the combining module connecting optical modules 1 and 2, and then transmitted to the second optical modules 1 and 2 through the splitting module connecting the second optical modules 1 and 2.

[0172] In some possible implementation scenarios where mesh congestion exists between planes, inter-plane connections can also be achieved using one or more optical switching modules. In scenarios requiring protection, one or more additional optical switching modules can be added. To connect the optical module to both the working and protective optical switching modules, one approach is to increase the port usage of the optical module. Another approach is to add splitter and combiner modules. Specific details will not be elaborated here; similar to the previous descriptions, please refer to the relevant sections above.

[0173] The above describes the structure of a switching device in a protection scenario from the perspective of two planes. In some possible implementation scenarios, switching between multiple planes can also be achieved, such as L planes. Each pair of L planes is connected through one or more optical switching modules. The connection methods between pairs of planes can be found in the description of the connection between the first and second planes above. As an example, if P1 first optical switching modules are used between two planes, then P1*L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules can be used to connect each pair of L planes. In protection scenarios, additional optical switching modules can be added. For example, if only one working optical switching module and one protection optical switching module are needed to connect two planes, then L planes would require L*(L-1) / 2 working optical switching modules and L*(L-1) / 2 protection optical switching modules. Alternatively, a beam splitter module can be added to reduce the number of protection optical switching modules used.

[0174] As an example, P1 = 1, the system includes L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules; one first optical switching module is used for connection between two planes, and different first optical switching modules are used for connection between different planes. The system also includes L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules; each L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching module corresponds one-to-one with the L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules, and each third optical switching module is used for connection between two planes, and different third optical switching modules are used for connection between different planes. In the first plane, the number of output ports of each of the M1 first optical modules is greater than or equal to M1+2(L-1), and the number of input ports of each of the M1 second optical modules in the second plane is greater than or equal to M1+2*(L-1). Each first optical module in the first plane has L-1 first output ports that are connected one-to-one with L-1 first optical switching modules in L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules. Each first optical module in the first plane has L-1 second output ports that are connected one-to-one with L-1 third optical switching modules in L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules. The L-1 first output ports and L-1 second output ports of the first optical module are different output ports from the at least M1+2(L-1) output ports included in the first optical module, excluding the M1 output ports used for mesh connections within the plane. Each second optical module in the second plane has L-1 first... The input ports are used to connect one-to-one with L-1 of the L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules; L-1 second input ports in each second optical module in the second plane are used to connect one-to-one with L-1 of the L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules; L-1 first input ports and L-1 second input ports of the second optical module are different output ports other than M1+2(L-1) output ports used for mesh connections within the plane among the at least M1+2(L-1) input ports included in the second optical module; the fourth optical switching module is used to switch the optical signal from the first plane input to the second plane through one of the output ports of the fourth optical switching module when the first optical switching module corresponding to the fourth optical switching module fails.

[0175] In one possible example, as shown in Figure 19, taking L=4 as an example, the optical module needs to provide 6 ports for interplane connections, of which 3 ports are used to connect to the working optical switching module, and the remaining 3 ports are used to connect to the protection optical switching module.

[0176] In another possible example, in order to reduce the number of optical modules and optical switching module ports occupied by interplane connections, an additional optical splitting module can be added.

[0177] In one configuration, the first and second optical modules in each of the L planes occupy an additional port for connection to a protection optical switching module. The number of protection optical switching modules is L. The output ports of the protection optical switching modules are connected to a splitter module, which includes one input port and L-1 output ports.

[0178] For example, P1 = 1, and the system includes L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules; one first optical switching module is used for connection between two planes, and different first optical switching modules are used for connection between different planes. The system also includes L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules; each L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching module corresponds one-to-one with the L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules, and each third optical switching module is used for connection between two planes, and different third optical switching modules are used for connection between different planes. The system also includes L third optical switching modules and L first optical splitting module groups. The L third optical switching modules correspond one-to-one with L planes. In the first plane, each of the M1 first optical modules has a greater than or equal to M1+L number of output ports. In the second plane, each of the M1 second optical modules has a greater than or equal to M1+L number of input ports. L-1 first output ports of each first optical module in the first plane are connected one-to-one with the L-1 first optical switching modules in the L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules. Second output ports of each first optical module in the first plane are connected to the input ports of the third optical switching modules corresponding to the first plane in the L third optical switching modules. The M1 output ports of the third optical switching modules corresponding to the first plane are connected one-to-one with the M1 input ports of the second optical splitting module groups. The second optical splitting module groups are the optical splitting module groups corresponding to the first plane in the L optical splitting module groups. The second optical splitting module groups include M1 optical splitting modules. Each of the M1 optical splitting modules includes an input port and an L-1 output port; each of the L-1 output ports of the second optical splitting module group is connected to the second input port of a second optical module in each of the L-1 planes other than the first plane; different optical splitting modules in the second optical splitting module group are connected to different second optical modules; a fourth optical switching module is used to send the optical signal from the first plane input through the input port of the fourth optical switching module to the corresponding optical splitting module through the first output port of the fourth optical switching module when the fifth optical switching module in the first plane fails; the fourth optical switching module is the third optical switching module corresponding to the first plane among the L third optical switching modules, and the fifth optical switching module is the first optical switching module used for connection between the first plane and the second plane; the optical splitting module connected to the first output port of the fourth optical switching module is used to switch the received optical signal from the first plane to the second plane through the output port connected to the second plane.

[0179] For example, taking L=4 as an example, see Figure 20. Taking plane 1 as an example, plane 1 occupies an additional AM / DM port, connecting to the input port of the third optical switching module of the protection system. Each output port of the third optical switching module of the protection system is connected to a 1*3 splitter module to planes 2, 3, and 4. Similarly, planes 2, 3, and 4 are the same as plane 1, all using 1*3 splitters to select the other three planes. For example, if the first optical switching module numbered 1 fails, the input port of the 1*3 splitter module connected to the third optical switching module of protection system 1 is connected to the output port connected to plane 2, thereby splitting the input signal of the third optical switching module of protection system 1 to plane 2. For example, if the first optical switching module numbered 2 fails, the input port of the 1*3 splitter module connected to the third optical switching module of protection system 1 is connected to the output port connected to plane 3, thereby splitting the input signal of the third optical switching module of protection system 1 to plane 3. For example, when the first optical switching module numbered 3 fails, the input port of the 1*3 splitter module connected to the third optical switching module of protection 1 is connected to the output port of the connecting plane 4, so that the input signal of the third optical switching module of protection 1 can be split to plane 4.

[0180] In another approach, when the number of optical switching modules required for connections between any two planes in L planes is not one, the number of protection optical switching modules can be reduced by adding additional splitter and combiner modules. For example, if the number of optical switching module ports is less than the dimension of the plane, adding additional combiner and splitter modules can achieve a ratio of 1 for operation and 1 for protection. Taking a plane with a dimension of 32 as an example, the number of optical switching module ports is 16 (i.e., a 16*16 specification). Four first optical switching modules can be used to achieve a full mesh connection from one plane to another. Each first optical module requires two output ports, and each second optical module requires two input ports to achieve the mesh connection between the two planes. Therefore, a mesh connection of 4 planes requires 4*4*3 / 2 = 24 first optical switching modules to achieve mesh connections between any two planes. Through 4 planes, the dimension of the interconnected system expands to 32*4 = 128D (dimensional). An additional protection optical switching module (third optical switching module) is added between every two planes to protect the four first optical switching modules. Protection is achieved by adding 4*3 / 2 third optical switching modules to the four planes. The connection between each pair of planes is shown in Figure 18, and the connection of the four planes is shown in Figure 21. Figure 21 illustrates this from a bidirectional transmission perspective. The optical multiplexing / splitting module group includes a multiplexing module group and a splitting module group. Unidirectional transmission is described in Figure 18. Taking transmission from plane 1 to plane 2 as an example, plane 1 is meshed with plane 2 through four 16*16 first optical switching modules. If one of the first optical switching modules fails, plane 1 can transmit the optical signal to the third optical switching module through the multiplexing module group connected to plane 1, and then the third optical switching module can transmit the optical signal to plane 2 through the splitting module group connected to plane 2.

[0181] In another approach, when the number of optical switching modules required for connections between any two planes in L planes is not one, the number of protection optical switching modules can be reduced by adding additional splitting and combining modules. For example, if the number of optical switching module ports is less than the dimension of the plane, adding additional combining and splitting modules can achieve a work-to-protection ratio of 1. Referring to Figure 22, taking a plane with a dimension of 32 as an example, the number of optical switching module ports is 16 (i.e., a 16*16 specification). Four first optical switching modules can be used to achieve a full mesh connection from one plane to another. Each first optical module requires two output ports, and each second optical module requires two input ports to achieve the mesh connection between the two planes. Therefore, a mesh connection of 4 planes requires 4*4*3 / 2 = 24 first optical switching modules to achieve mesh connections between any two planes. Through 4 planes, the dimension of the interconnected system expands to 32*4 = 128D (dimensions). An additional protective optical switching module (third optical switching module) is added between every two planes to protect the four first optical switching modules. Therefore, 4*3 / 2 third optical switching modules are added to the four planes for protection. For the multiple first optical switching modules used for signal transmission from each plane to the other three planes, a protective optical switching module can be added to protect these multiple first optical switching modules. The first optical modules of each plane need to be connected to the third optical switching module via a beam combiner. Each output port of the third optical switching module is connected to the six second optical modules of the other three planes via a 1*6 beam splitter. Two of the six second optical modules are used in each plane. Referring to Figure 21, from the perspective of plane 1, plane 1 is connected to the third optical switching module 1 via a 2*1 beam combiner, and then the light is split to planes 2, 3, and 4 via a 1*6 beam splitter. When a first optical switching module connecting plane 1 and plane 2 fails, the optical signal to be transmitted to the second plane can be coupled to the third optical switching module 1 through the optical combining module group. Then, the third optical switching module 1 outputs to the 1*6 optical splitting module group, which transmits the optical signal to plane 2 through optical splitting.

[0182] In some possible implementations, the control described above for the beam splitter and / or beam combiner can be performed by a control module or a control device. The control device can be deployed in an interconnected system. The control device can send control signals to the beam splitter and / or beam combiner to control the conduction relationship between the input ports and multiple output ports of the beam splitter, and to control the conduction relationship between the multiple input ports and output ports of the beam combiner.

[0183] The aforementioned control device can be understood as a centralized controller used to control the switching and exchange of various modules.

[0184] The control device may include one or more processors. The processor may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor, such as a baseband processor or a central processing unit (CPU). The baseband processor can process communication protocols and communication data, while the CPU can execute software programs and process the data within those programs. The control device may also include transceivers to handle signal input (reception) and output (transmission).

[0185] The control device may include one or more processors, which can control or configure the optical cross-connect network (e.g., switching mode). Optionally, in addition to implementing the schemes of the embodiments shown above, the processor can also implement other functions. Optionally, in one design, the processor can execute instructions that cause the control device to perform resource scheduling, control or configuration of the optical cross-connect network. The instructions may be stored entirely or partially within the processor, or entirely or partially stored in a memory coupled to the processor. In yet another possible design, the control device may also include circuitry that can control or configure the optical cross-connect network.

[0186] In another possible design, the control device may include one or more memories storing instructions that can be executed on a processor to cause the control device to perform control or configuration of the optical cross-connect network. Optionally, the memories may also store data. The processor may also optionally store instructions and / or data. The processor and memory may be separate or integrated.

[0187] It should be noted that the processor in the embodiments of this application can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. During implementation, each step of the above method embodiments can be completed by the integrated logic circuits in the processor's hardware or by instructions in software form. The processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components. It can implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of this application. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of this application can be directly embodied in the execution of a hardware decoding processor, or executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software modules can be located in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, or other mature storage media in the art. This storage medium is located in memory; the processor reads information from the memory and, in conjunction with its hardware, completes the steps of the above methods.

[0188] It is understood that the memory in the embodiments of this application can be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. Non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM), which serves as an external cache. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous linked dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0189] It should also be noted that the connection between the first optical module and the second optical module in a plane can be achieved through an optical connection device. This optical connection device can be a fiber optic box or an optical backplane; it can also be other components, without specific limitations here. For example, connections between different planes can also be achieved using an optical connection device. In some scenarios, the connection between the first and second optical modules in a plane, as well as the connection between an optical module and an optical switching module, can also be achieved using the same or the same set of optical backplanes. In this case, part of the backplane connects to the first optical module on the left, part connects to the second optical module on the right, and another part connects to the optical switching module.

[0190] Based on the above embodiments, this application also provides a communication method. This method is applied to an interconnection system and an interconnection device. The interconnection system includes at least P1 first optical switching modules, a first plane, and a second plane. The first plane includes M1 first optical modules on the input side and M1 second optical modules on the output side. The second plane includes M2 first optical modules on the input side and M2 second optical modules on the output side. The M1 first optical modules and M1 second optical modules are meshed together in the first plane, and the M2 first optical modules and M2 second optical modules are meshed together in the second plane. M1 and M2 are integers greater than 1, and P1 is a positive integer. At least one first output port of each of the K1 first optical modules in the first plane is connected to the input port of at least one of the P1 first optical switching modules. Different first optical modules in the first plane are connected... The input ports of the same first optical switching module are different, and the first output ports of different first optical modules belonging to the same first optical module in the first plane are connected to different first optical switching modules; the first output port of the first optical module is the output port included in the first optical module excluding the output port used for in-plane mesh connection; K1 is a positive integer and K1 is less than or equal to min(M1,M2); in the second plane, at least one first input port of each of the K1 second optical modules is connected to at least one output port of the first optical switching module in a one-to-one correspondence, and the input ports of the same first optical switching module connected to different second optical modules in the second plane are different, and the first input ports of different first optical modules belonging to the same second optical module in the second plane are connected to different first optical switching modules; the first input port of the second optical module is the input port included in the second optical module excluding the input port used for in-plane mesh connection.

[0191] Referring to Figure 23, the communication method includes:

[0192] S2301, the second optical signal to be sent to the second plane is demultiplexed from the received first optical signal by the third optical module in the first plane; the third optical module is any one of the M1 first optical modules included in the first plane.

[0193] S2302, the second optical signal is sent to the first optical switching module connected to the third output port through the third output port of the third optical module; the third output port of the third optical module is one of the first output ports included in the third optical module.

[0194] S2303, the first optical switching module connected through the third output port switches the second optical signal to the second plane.

[0195] In one possible implementation, the first optical switching module is a port-level optical cross-connect (OXC) device; the second optical signal is the optical signal to be transmitted to the fourth optical module in the second plane. The first optical switching module, connected via the third output port, switches the second optical signal to the second plane, which can be achieved in the following way:

[0196] The first optical switching module connected through the third output port switches the second optical signal to the fourth output port. The fourth output port is connected to the fourth optical module, which is one of the M2 second optical modules included in the second plane.

[0197] In one possible implementation, the first optical switching module is a wavelength-level OXC device; the first optical switching module connected to the third output port switches the second optical signal to the second plane, which can be achieved in the following way:

[0198] The first optical switching module connected through the third output port splits the second optical signal into g third optical signals, and outputs them to g second optical modules belonging to the second plane through the g fifth output ports of the first optical switching module connected through the third output port; the fifth output port is the output port of the first optical switching module connected to the third output port, and each of the g third optical signals includes an optical signal of at least one wavelength, and the wavelengths of the optical signals included in different third optical signals are different.

[0199] In one possible implementation, the interconnect system further includes P2 second optical switching modules; at least one first output port of each of the K2 first optical modules in the second plane is connected to the input port of at least one of the P2 second optical switching modules, the input ports of the same second optical switching module connected to different first optical modules in the second plane are different, the first output ports of different first optical modules in the second plane are connected to different second optical switching modules, at least one first input port of each of the K2 second optical modules in the first plane is connected to the output port of at least one second optical switching module in a one-to-one correspondence, the input ports of the same second optical switching module connected to different second optical modules in the first plane are different, the first input ports of different second optical modules in the first plane are connected to different second optical switching modules, and K2 is a positive integer and K2 is less than or equal to min(M1,M2);

[0200] Communication methods may also include:

[0201] The fifth optical module in the second plane demultiplexes the received fourth optical signal to extract the fifth optical signal to be transmitted to the second plane; the fifth optical module is any one of the M2 first optical modules included in the second plane;

[0202] The fifth optical signal is sent to the second optical switching module connected to the sixth output port through the sixth output port of the fifth optical module; the sixth output port of the fifth optical module is one of the output ports of the fifth optical module.

[0203] The second optical switching module, connected through the sixth output port, switches the fifth optical signal to the first plane.

[0204] In one possible implementation, the interconnect system further includes P1 third optical switching modules, each corresponding one-to-one with one of P1 first optical switching modules; at least one second output port of each of the K1 first optical modules in the first plane is connected one-to-one with the input port of at least one of the P1 third optical switching modules; different first optical modules in the first plane are connected to different input ports of the same third optical switching module, and different first output ports of the same first optical module in the first plane are connected to different third optical switching modules; at least one second input port of each of the K1 second optical modules in the second plane is connected to... One less third optical switching module output port is connected in a one-to-one correspondence. Different second optical modules in the second plane are connected to different input ports of the same third optical switching module. Different first input ports of the same second optical module in the second plane are connected to different third optical switching modules. The second output port of the first optical module is the output port of the first optical module excluding the output port used for mesh connection and the output port used for connection with the first optical switching module. The second input port of the second optical module is the input port of the second optical module excluding the input port used for mesh connection and the input port used for connection with the first optical switching module.

[0205] Communication methods may also include:

[0206] When the first optical switching module connected to the third output port fails, the second optical signal is sent to the third optical switching module connected to the seventh output port through the seventh output port of the third optical module; the seventh output port of the third optical module is one of the second output ports included in the third optical module;

[0207] The second optical signal is switched to the second plane via the third optical switching module connected through the seventh output port.

[0208] In one possible implementation, the interconnection system further includes P1 third optical switching modules, Q*K1 optical splitting modules, and Q*K1 optical combining modules, with each of the P1 third optical switching modules corresponding to one of the P1 first optical switching modules; P1 is greater than or equal to Q; in the first plane, the Q first output ports of each of the K1 first optical modules are connected to the input ports of the Q optical splitting modules, and the two output ports of each of the Q*K1 optical splitting modules are respectively connected to the input ports of one first optical switching module and one third optical switching module; wherein, different first optical modules in the first plane are connected to different optical splitting modules; in the second plane, the Q first input ports of each of the K1 second optical modules are connected to the output ports of the Q optical combining modules, and the two output ports of each of the Q*K1 optical combining modules are respectively connected to the output ports of one first optical switching module and one third optical switching module; wherein, different second optical modules in the second plane are connected to different optical combining modules.

[0209] Communication methods may also include:

[0210] When the first optical switching module connected to the third output port fails, the control beam splitter connects the third output port to the third optical switching module corresponding to the first optical switching module connected to the third output port, so as to send the second optical signal to the third optical switching module corresponding to the first optical switching module connected to the third output port; the second signal is switched to the second plane through the third optical switching module corresponding to the first optical switching module connected to the third output port.

[0211] In one possible implementation, the number of planes in the interconnection system is L, where L is greater than 2; the first plane and the second plane belong to any two of the L planes; P1 = 1, and the system includes L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules; one first optical switching module is used for connection between two planes, and different first optical switching modules are used for connection between different planes; wherein, the number of output ports of each of the M1 first optical modules in the first plane is greater than or equal to M1+L-1, and the number of input ports of each of the M1 second optical modules in the second plane is greater than or equal to M1+L-1; each first optical module in the first plane has L-1 first output ports that are connected one-to-one with the L-1 first optical switching modules; each second optical module in the second plane has L-1 first input ports that are connected one-to-one with the L-1 first optical switching modules.

[0212] Communication methods may also include:

[0213] The sixth optical signal to be transmitted to the third plane is split from the received first optical signal by the third optical module in the first plane; the third plane is any plane other than the first and second planes among L planes; the sixth optical signal is sent to the first optical switching module connected to the eighth output port through the eighth output port of the third optical module; the eighth output port of the third optical module is one of the first output ports included in the third optical module; the first optical switching module connected to the eighth output port is used for the connection between the first plane and the third plane; the sixth optical signal is switched to the second plane through the first optical switching module connected to the eighth output port.

[0214] In one possible implementation, the interconnect system further includes L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules; each of the L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules corresponds one-to-one with the L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules, and each third optical switching module is used for connection between two planes, with different third optical switching modules used for connection between different planes; the number of output ports of each of the M1 first optical modules in the first plane is greater than or equal to M1+2(L-1), and the number of input ports of each of the M1 second optical modules in the second plane is greater than or equal to M1+2*(L-1); In a plane, each first optical module has L-1 first output ports for one-to-one connection with L-1 first optical switching modules in L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules; each first optical module in the first plane has L-1 second output ports for one-to-one connection with L-1 third optical switching modules in L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules; the L-1 first output ports and L-1 second output ports of the first optical module are different output ports other than the M1 output ports used for mesh connection in the plane among the at least M1+2(L-1) output ports included in the first optical module. In the second plane, each second optical module has L-1 first input ports for one-to-one connection with L-1 of the L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules; in the second plane, each second optical module has L-1 second input ports for one-to-one connection with L-1 of the L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules; the L-1 first input ports and L-1 second input ports of the second optical module are different output ports other than the M1 output ports used for mesh connections in the plane among the at least M1+2(L-1) input ports included in the second optical module.

[0215] The communication method may further include: when the first optical switching module corresponding to the fourth optical switching module fails, the optical signal from the first plane input through the input port of the fourth optical switching module is switched to the second plane through one of the output ports of the fourth optical switching module; the fourth optical switching module is the third optical switching module used for connection between the first plane and the second plane among L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules.

[0216] In one possible implementation, the interconnect system further includes L third optical switching modules and L first optical splitting module groups, with the L third optical switching modules corresponding one-to-one with L planes; the number of output ports of each of the M1 first optical modules in the first plane is greater than or equal to M1+L, and the number of input ports of each of the M1 second optical modules in the second plane is greater than or equal to M1+L; L-1 first output ports of each first optical module in the first plane are used to connect one-to-one with L-1 first optical switching modules in L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules; and the second output port of each first optical module in the first plane is used to connect with the L third optical switching modules. The input port of the third optical switching module corresponding to the first plane in the block is connected; the M1 output ports of the third optical switching module corresponding to the first plane are connected one-to-one with the M1 input ports of the second optical splitting module group. The second optical splitting module group is the optical splitting module group corresponding to the first plane among L optical splitting module groups; the second optical splitting module group includes M1 optical splitting modules, and each of the M1 optical splitting modules includes one input port and L-1 output ports; the L-1 output ports of each optical splitting module in the second optical splitting module group are respectively connected to the second input ports of a second optical module in L-1 planes other than the first plane; different optical splitting modules in the second optical splitting module group are connected to different second optical modules.

[0217] The communication method may further include: when the fifth optical switching module in the first plane fails, the optical signal from the first plane input through the input port of the fourth optical switching module is sent to the corresponding splitter module through the first output port of the fourth optical switching module; the fourth optical switching module is the third optical switching module in the third optical switching module corresponding to the first plane, and the fifth optical switching module is the first optical switching module used for connection between the first plane and the second plane; the splitter module connected through the first output port of the fourth optical switching module exchanges the received optical signal from the first plane to the second plane through the output port connected to the second plane.

[0218] In this application's interconnection system, each pair of planes is interconnected via one or more optical switching modules. Interconnection is achieved within each plane through the output ports of the input-side optical modules and the input ports of the output-side optical modules, without occupying the dimensional ports of the original planes. This reduces the difficulty of increasing network dimensions in existing deployments and eliminates the need to pre-reserve dimensional slots for expansion. Furthermore, protective optical switching modules can be added to the interconnection system to protect the operating optical switching modules, thereby improving reliability. This application utilizes the current plane (or subrack) for dimensional expansion without replacing new planes, ensuring compatibility with existing networks. Dimensions can be expanded as needed.

[0219] In some implementation scenarios, the aforementioned interconnected system can also be understood as a leaf-spine architecture. Each plane acts as a leaf layer, and the optical switching module acts as a spine layer. See Figure 24 for example. For instance, if the optical module is 1*32 and the optical switching module is 32*32, it supports expansion to 1024 dimensions, reducing the difficulty of dimensional expansion.

[0220] Those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments of this application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, this application can take the form of a completely hardware embodiment, a completely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, this application can take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program code.

[0221] This application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of this application. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in one or more flowchart illustrations and / or one or more block diagrams.

[0222] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to this application without departing from the scope of this application. Therefore, if such modifications and variations fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalents, this application also intends to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. An interconnection system, characterized in that, The system includes at least P1 first optical switching modules, a first plane, and a second plane. The first plane includes M1 first optical modules on the input side and M1 second optical modules on the output side. The second plane includes M2 first optical modules on the input side and M2 second optical modules on the output side. The M1 first optical modules and the M1 second optical modules are meshed together in the first plane, and the M2 first optical modules and the M2 second optical modules are meshed together in the second plane. M1 and M2 are integers greater than 1, and P1 is a positive integer. In the first plane, at least one first output port of each of the K1 first optical modules is connected to at least one input port of the P1 first optical switching modules. Different first optical modules in the first plane are connected to different input ports of the same first optical switching module, and different first output ports of the same first optical module in the first plane are connected to different first optical switching modules. The first output port of the first optical module is the output port included in the first optical module, excluding the output port used for in-plane mesh connection. K1 is a positive integer and K1 is less than or equal to min(M1,M2); In the second plane, at least one first input port of each of the K1 second optical modules is connected to the output port of the at least one first optical switching module in a one-to-one correspondence. Different second optical modules in the second plane are connected to different input ports of the same first optical switching module. Different first input ports of the same second optical module in the second plane are connected to different first optical switching modules. The first input port of the second optical module is the input port included in the second optical module except for the input port used for in-plane mesh connection. Any one of the P1 first optical switching modules is used to switch the optical signal from the first plane input to the second plane through one of the output ports of the first optical switching module.

2. The system as described in claim 1, characterized in that, Where P1 = 1, the number of input ports of the first optical switching module is greater than or equal to K1, and the number of output ports of the first optical switching module is greater than or equal to K1; where M1 = M2, the first optical module includes at least one input port and at least M1+1 output ports, and the second optical module includes at least M1+1 input ports and at least one output port. M1 output ports in each first optical module in the first plane are used for mesh connection in the first plane, and M1 input ports in each second optical module in the first plane are used for mesh connection in the first plane; the first output port of each of the K1 first optical modules in the first plane is connected to the first optical switching module. M1 output ports in each first optical module in the second plane are used for mesh connection with the M1 second optical modules in the second plane, and M1 input ports in each second optical module in the second plane are used for mesh connection with the M1 first optical modules in the second plane; the first input port in each of the K1 first optical modules in the second plane is connected to the first optical switching module.

3. The system as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The number of input ports of the first optical switching module is greater than or equal to 2*K1, and the number of output ports of the first optical switching module is greater than or equal to 2*K1; the first output port of each of the K1 first optical modules in the second plane is connected to the first optical switching module, and the first input port of each of the K1 second optical modules in the first plane is connected to the first optical switching module. The input ports of the first optical switching module connected to the first optical module of the first plane and the first optical module of the second plane are different, and the output ports of the first optical switching module connected to the second optical module of the first plane and the second optical module of the second plane are different.

4. The system as described in claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, K1 = M1 = M2.

5. The system as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The number of input ports of the first optical switching module is less than or equal to M1, where M1 = M2, and P1 is greater than or equal to 4. The P1 first optical switching modules are used to realize the mesh connection between the M1 first optical modules included in the first plane and the M1 second optical modules included in the second plane.

6. The system as described in claim 5, characterized in that, The number of input ports of the first optical switching module is less than or equal to M1 and greater than or equal to M1 / 2, and P1 = 4.

7. The system as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, It also includes P2 second optical switching modules; In the second plane, at least one first output port of each of the K2 first optical modules is connected to the input port of at least one of the P2 optical switching modules of the second optical switching module. Different first optical modules in the second plane are connected to different input ports of the same second optical switching module. Different first output ports of the same first optical module in the second plane are connected to different second optical switching modules. In the first plane, at least one first input port of each of the K2 second optical modules is connected to the output port of the at least one second optical switching module in a one-to-one correspondence. Different second optical modules in the first plane are connected to different input ports of the same second optical switching module. Different first input ports of the same second optical module in the first plane are connected to different second optical switching modules. K2 is a positive integer and K2 is less than or equal to min(M1, M2).

8. The system according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that, It also includes P1 third optical switching modules, each of which corresponds one-to-one with the P1 first optical switching modules; In the first plane, at least one second output port of each of the K1 first optical modules is connected to at least one input port of each of the P1 third optical switching modules. Different first optical modules in the first plane are connected to different input ports of the same third optical switching module, and different first output ports of the same first optical module in the first plane are connected to different third optical switching modules. Similarly, in the second plane, at least one second input port of each of the K1 second optical modules is connected to at least one output port of the at least one third optical switching module. Different second optical modules in the second plane are connected to different input ports of the same third optical switching module, and different first input ports of the same second optical module in the second plane are connected to different third optical switching modules. The second output port of the first optical module includes all output ports except those used for mesh connections and those used for connecting to the first optical switching module. The second input port of the second optical module includes all input ports except those used for mesh connections and those used for connecting to the first optical switching module. Any one of the P1 third optical switching modules is used to switch the optical signal from the first plane input to the input port of the third optical switching module to the second plane through the output port of the first optical switching module when the first optical switching module corresponding to the third optical switching module fails.

9. The system according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that, It also includes P1 third optical switching modules, Q*K1 optical splitting modules and Q*K1 optical combining modules, wherein each of the P1 third optical switching modules corresponds one-to-one with the P1 first optical switching modules; P1 is greater than or equal to Q; In the first plane, the Q output ports of each of the K1 first optical modules are connected one-to-one with the input ports of the Q splitting modules. The two output ports of each of the Q*K1 splitting modules are respectively connected to the input port of a first optical switching module and the input port of a third optical switching module. Different first optical modules in the first plane are connected to different splitting modules. In the second plane, the Q first input ports of each of the K1 second optical modules are connected one-to-one with the output ports of the Q optical combining modules. The two output ports of each of the Q*K1 optical combining modules are respectively connected to the output ports of a first optical switching module and a third optical switching module. Different second optical modules in the second plane are connected to different optical combining modules.

10. The system as described in claim 9, characterized in that, Q = 1, P1 = 1.

11. The system according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that, The system has L planes, where L is greater than 2; the first plane and the second plane belong to any two of the L planes; the system includes P1*L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules; each P1 first optical switching module is used for connection between two planes, and different first optical switching modules are used for connection between different planes; Wherein, the number of output ports of each of the M1 first optical modules in the first plane is greater than or equal to M1+L-1, and the number of input ports of each of the M1 second optical modules in the second plane is greater than or equal to M1+L-1. In each first optical module in the first plane, L-1 first output ports are used to connect one-to-one with L-1 first optical switching modules; in each second optical module in the second plane, L-1 first input ports are used to connect one-to-one with L-1 first optical switching modules.

12. The system as claimed in claim 11, characterized in that, P1 = 1, and the system further includes L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules; the L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules correspond one-to-one with the L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules, each third optical switching module is used for connection between two planes, and different third optical switching modules are used for connection between different planes; In the first plane, the number of output ports of each of the M1 first optical modules is greater than or equal to M1+2(L-1), and the number of input ports of each of the M1 second optical modules in the second plane is greater than or equal to M1+2*(L-1); L-1 first output ports of each first optical module in the first plane are used to connect one-to-one with L-1 first optical switching modules in the L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules; In each first optical module in the first plane, L-1 second output ports are used to connect one-to-one with L-1 third optical switching modules in the L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules; the L-1 first output ports and the L-1 second output ports of the first optical module are different output ports other than the M1 output ports used for mesh connection in the plane among the at least M1+2(L-1) output ports included in the first optical module; In the second plane, each second optical module has L-1 first input ports for one-to-one connection with L-1 of the L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules; in the second plane, each second optical module has L-1 second input ports for one-to-one connection with L-1 of the L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules; the L-1 first input ports and the L-1 second input ports of the second optical module are different output ports other than the M1 output ports used for mesh connections within the plane from the at least M1+2(L-1) input ports included in the second optical module. The fourth optical switching module is used to switch the optical signal from the first optical switching module corresponding to the fourth optical switching module to the second plane through one of the L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules when the first optical switching module fails. The fourth optical switching module is the third optical switching module among the L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules used for connection between the first plane and the second plane.

13. The system as described in claim 11, characterized in that, P1 = 1, and the system also includes L third optical switching modules and L first optical splitting module groups, with the L third optical switching modules corresponding one-to-one with the L planes; In the first plane, the number of output ports of each of the M1 first optical modules is greater than or equal to M1+L, and the number of input ports of each of the M1 second optical modules in the second plane is greater than or equal to M1+L; L-1 first output ports of each first optical module in the first plane are used to connect one-to-one with L-1 first optical switching modules in the L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules; The second output port of each first optical module in the first plane is used to connect to the input port of the third optical switching module corresponding to the first plane among the L third optical switching modules; the M1 output ports of the third optical switching module corresponding to the first plane are connected one-to-one with the M1 input ports of the second optical splitting module group, the second optical splitting module group is the optical splitting module group corresponding to the first plane among the L optical splitting module groups; the second optical splitting module group includes M1 optical splitting modules, each of the M1 optical splitting modules includes an input port and an L-1 output port; In the second beam splitting module group, each beam splitting module includes L-1 output ports, which are respectively connected to the second input ports of a second optical module on L-1 planes other than the first plane; different beam splitting modules in the second beam splitting module group are connected to different second optical modules; The fourth optical switching module is used to send the optical signal from the first plane input to the input port of the fourth optical switching module to the corresponding optical splitter through the first output port of the fourth optical switching module when the fifth optical switching module in the first plane fails. The fourth optical switching module is the third optical switching module in the L third optical switching module corresponding to the first plane, and the fifth optical switching module is the first optical switching module used for connection between the first plane and the second plane. The first output port of the fourth optical switching module is connected to a splitter module, which is used to switch the received optical signal from the first plane to the second plane through the output port connected to the second plane.

14. The system according to any one of claims 1-13, characterized in that, The first optical module is a wavelength selective switch (WSS) or an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG).

15. The system according to any one of claims 1-13, characterized in that, The second optical module is a wavelength selective switch (WSS) or an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG).

16. The system according to any one of claims 1-15, characterized in that, The first optical switching module is a port-level optical cross-connect (OXC) device or a wavelength-level OXC device.

17. The system as claimed in claim 16, characterized in that, The wavelength-level OXC device includes a wavelength selective switch (WSS).

18. The system according to any one of claims 1-17, characterized in that, M1 first optical modules and M1 second optical modules in the first plane are connected by a first optical backplane mesh in the first plane; M1 first optical modules and M1 second optical modules in the second plane are connected by a second optical backplane mesh in the first plane; the M1 first optical modules are connected to a first optical switching module through the first optical backplane, and the M2 second optical modules are connected to the first optical switching module through the second optical backplane.

19. A communication method, characterized in that, The interconnection system, applied to interconnection devices, includes at least P1 first optical switching modules, a first plane, and a second plane. The first plane includes M1 first optical modules on the input side and M1 second optical modules on the output side. The second plane includes M2 first optical modules on the input side and M2 second optical modules on the output side. The M1 first optical modules and the M1 second optical modules are meshed together in the first plane, and the M2 first optical modules and the M2 second optical modules are meshed together in the second plane. M1 and M2 are integers greater than 1, and P1 is a positive integer. In the first plane, at least one first output port of each of the K1 first optical modules is connected to at least one input port of the P1 first optical switching modules. Different first optical modules in the first plane are connected to different input ports of the same first optical switching module, and different first output ports of the same first optical module in the first plane are connected to different first optical switching modules. The first output port of the first optical module is the output port included in the first optical module, excluding the output port used for in-plane mesh connection. K1 is a positive integer and K1 is less than or equal to min(M1,M2); In the second plane, at least one first input port of each of the K1 second optical modules is connected to the output port of the at least one first optical switching module in a one-to-one correspondence. Different second optical modules in the second plane are connected to different input ports of the same first optical switching module. Different first input ports of the same second optical module in the second plane are connected to different first optical switching modules. The first input port of the second optical module is the input port included in the second optical module except for the input port used for in-plane mesh connection. The method includes: The third optical module in the first plane demultiplexes the received first optical signal to extract a second optical signal to be transmitted to the second plane; the third optical module is any one of the M1 first optical modules included in the first plane; The second optical signal is sent to the first optical switching module connected to the third output port through the third output port of the third optical module; the third output port of the third optical module is one of the first output ports included in the third optical module; The second optical signal is switched to the second plane via the first optical switching module connected through the third output port.

20. The method as described in claim 19, characterized in that, The first optical switching module is a port-level optical cross-connect (OXC) device; the second optical signal is the optical signal to be sent to the fourth optical module of the second plane; The first optical switching module connected through the third output port switches the second optical signal to the second plane, including: The second optical signal is switched to the fourth output port by the first optical switching module connected through the third output port. The fourth output port is connected to the fourth optical module, which is one of the M2 second optical modules included in the second plane.

21. The method as described in claim 19, characterized in that, The first optical switching module is a wavelength-level OXC device; the first optical switching module connected through the third output port switches the second optical signal to the second plane, including: The first optical switching module connected through the third output port divides the second optical signal into g third optical signals, and outputs them to g second optical modules belonging to the second plane through the g fifth output ports of the first optical switching module connected through the third output port; the fifth output port is the output port of the first optical switching module connected to the third output port, and each of the g third optical signals includes an optical signal of at least one wavelength, and different third optical signals include optical signals of different wavelengths.

22. The method according to any one of claims 19-21, characterized in that, The interconnection system also includes P2 second optical switching modules; In the second plane, at least one first output port of each of the K2 first optical modules is connected to at least one input port of the P2 optical switching modules. Different first optical modules in the second plane are connected to different input ports of the same second optical switching module. Different first output ports of the same first optical module in the second plane are connected to different second optical switching modules. In the first plane, at least one first input port of each of the K2 second optical modules is connected to the output port of the at least one second optical switching module in a one-to-one correspondence. Different second optical modules in the first plane are connected to different input ports of the same second optical switching module. Different first input ports of the same second optical module in the first plane are connected to different second optical switching modules. K2 is a positive integer and K2 is less than or equal to min(M1,M2). The method further includes: The fifth optical module in the second plane demultiplexes the received fourth optical signal to generate a fifth optical signal to be transmitted to the second plane; the fifth optical module is any one of the M2 first optical modules included in the second plane; The fifth optical signal is transmitted to the second optical switching module connected to the sixth output port through the sixth output port of the fifth optical module; the sixth output port of the fifth optical module is one of the output ports of the fifth optical module. The fifth optical signal is switched to the first plane via the second optical switching module connected through the sixth output port.

23. The method according to any one of claims 19-22, characterized in that, The interconnection system further includes P1 third optical switching modules, each corresponding one-to-one with one of the P1 first optical switching modules; at least one second output port of each of the K1 first optical modules in the first plane is connected one-to-one with the input port of at least one of the P1 third optical switching modules; different first optical modules in the first plane are connected to different input ports of the same third optical switching module, and different first output ports of the same first optical module in the first plane are connected to different third optical switching modules; at least one second input port of each of the K1 second optical modules in the second plane is connected to the at least one third optical switching module. The output ports of the optical switching modules are connected one-to-one. Different second optical modules in the second plane are connected to different input ports of the same third optical switching module. Different first input ports of the same second optical module in the second plane are connected to different third optical switching modules. The second output port of the first optical module is the output port of the first optical module excluding the output port used for mesh connection and the output port used for connection with the first optical switching module. The second input port of the second optical module is the input port of the second optical module excluding the input port used for mesh connection and the input port used for connection with the first optical switching module. The method further includes: When the first optical switching module connected to the third output port fails, the second optical signal is sent to the third optical switching module connected to the seventh output port through the seventh output port of the third optical module; the seventh output port of the third optical module is one of the second output ports included in the third optical module; The second optical signal is switched to the second plane via the third optical switching module connected through the seventh output port.

24. The method according to any one of claims 19-22, characterized in that, The interconnection system also includes P1 third optical switching modules, Q*K1 optical splitting modules, and Q*K1 optical combining modules, wherein each of the P1 third optical switching modules corresponds one-to-one with the P1 first optical switching modules; P1 is greater than or equal to Q. In the first plane, the Q output ports of each of the K1 first optical modules are connected one-to-one with the input ports of the Q splitting modules. The two output ports of each of the Q*K1 splitting modules are respectively connected to the input port of a first optical switching module and the input port of a third optical switching module. Different first optical modules in the first plane are connected to different splitting modules. In the second plane, the Q first input ports of each of the K1 second optical modules are connected one-to-one with the output ports of the Q optical combining modules. The two output ports of each of the Q*K1 optical combining modules are respectively connected to the output port of a first optical switching module and the output port of a third optical switching module. Different second optical modules in the second plane are connected to different optical combining modules. The method further includes: When the first optical switching module connected to the third output port fails, the splitter module is controlled to connect the third output port to the third optical switching module corresponding to the first optical switching module connected to the third output port, so as to send the second optical signal to the third optical switching module corresponding to the first optical switching module connected to the third output port. The third optical switching module, which is connected to the first optical switching module through the third output port, switches the second signal to the second plane.

25. The method according to any one of claims 19-22, characterized in that, The number of planes in the interconnection system is L, where L is greater than 2; the first plane and the second plane belong to any two of the L planes; P1 = 1; the system includes L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules; one first optical switching module is used for connection between two planes, and different first optical switching modules are used for connection between different planes; Wherein, the number of output ports of each of the M1 first optical modules in the first plane is greater than or equal to M1+L-1, and the number of input ports of each of the M1 second optical modules in the second plane is greater than or equal to M1+L-1. In each first optical module in the first plane, L-1 first output ports are used to connect one-to-one with L-1 first optical switching modules; in each second optical module in the second plane, L-1 first input ports are used to connect one-to-one with L-1 first optical switching modules. The method includes: The third optical module in the first plane demultiplexes the received first optical signal to extract the sixth optical signal to be sent to the third plane; the third plane is any one of the L planes other than the first plane and the second plane; The sixth optical signal is sent to the first optical switching module connected to the eighth output port of the third optical module; the eighth output port of the third optical module is one of the first output ports included in the third optical module; the first optical switching module connected to the eighth output port is used for the connection between the first plane and the third plane. The sixth optical signal is switched to the second plane via the first optical switching module connected through the eighth output port.

26. The method as described in claim 25, characterized in that, The interconnection system also includes L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules; the L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules correspond one-to-one with the L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules, each third optical switching module is used for connection between two planes, and different third optical switching modules are used for connection between different planes; In the first plane, the number of output ports of each of the M1 first optical modules is greater than or equal to M1+2(L-1), and the number of input ports of each of the M1 second optical modules in the second plane is greater than or equal to M1+2*(L-1); L-1 first output ports of each first optical module in the first plane are used to connect one-to-one with L-1 first optical switching modules in the L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules; In each first optical module in the first plane, L-1 second output ports are used to connect one-to-one with L-1 third optical switching modules in the L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules; the L-1 first output ports and the L-1 second output ports of the first optical module are different output ports other than the M1 output ports used for mesh connection in the plane among the at least M1+2(L-1) output ports included in the first optical module; In the second plane, each second optical module has L-1 first input ports for one-to-one connection with L-1 of the L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules; in the second plane, each second optical module has L-1 second input ports for one-to-one connection with L-1 of the L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules; the L-1 first input ports and the L-1 second input ports of the second optical module are different output ports other than the M1 output ports used for mesh connections within the plane from the at least M1+2(L-1) input ports included in the second optical module. The method further includes: When the first optical switching module corresponding to the fourth optical switching module fails, the optical signal from the first plane input through the input port of the fourth optical switching module is switched to the second plane through one of the output ports of the fourth optical switching module; the fourth optical switching module is the third optical switching module among the L*(L-1) / 2 third optical switching modules used for connection between the first plane and the second plane.

27. The method as described in claim 25, characterized in that, The interconnection system further includes L third optical switching modules and L first optical splitting module groups. The L third optical switching modules correspond one-to-one with L planes. In the first plane, each of the M1 first optical modules has an output port count greater than or equal to M1+L, and in the second plane, each of the M1 second optical modules has an input port count greater than or equal to M1+L. L-1 first output ports in each first optical module in the first plane are used to connect one-to-one with the L-1 first optical switching modules in the L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules. The second output port in each first optical module in the first plane is used to connect one-to-one with the L third optical switching modules corresponding to the L-1 first optical switching modules in the L*(L-1) / 2 first optical switching modules. The input port of the third optical switching module of the first plane is connected; the M1 output ports of the third optical switching module corresponding to the first plane are connected one-to-one with the M1 input ports of the second optical splitting module group, the second optical splitting module group is the optical splitting module group corresponding to the first plane among the L optical splitting module groups; the second optical splitting module group includes M1 optical splitting modules, each of the M1 optical splitting modules includes one input port and L-1 output ports; the L-1 output ports of each optical splitting module in the second optical splitting module group are respectively connected to the second input port of a second optical module in the L-1 planes other than the first plane; different optical splitting modules in the second optical splitting module group are connected to different second optical modules; The method further includes: When the fifth optical switching module in the first plane fails, the optical signal from the first plane input through the input port of the fourth optical switching module is sent to the corresponding splitter through the first output port of the fourth optical switching module; the fourth optical switching module is the third optical switching module in the L third optical switching module corresponding to the first plane, and the fifth optical switching module is the first optical switching module used for connection between the first plane and the second plane; The optical splitter connected to the first output port of the fourth optical switching module exchanges the received optical signal from the first plane to the second plane through the output port connected to the second plane.

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