Fused Three-Stage Optical Network for Scalable Growth
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current telecommunication network designs face challenges in enabling graceful network growth while maintaining structural simplicity, ease of control, and high performance, particularly in efficiently distributing payload and control data across a large number of access nodes interconnected through optical or electronic distributors.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves arranging access nodes into access groups and bands, with constellations of distributors providing multiple paths for data transmission, including intra-band and inter-band constellations, and employing a distributor controller for scheduling and timing adjustments to ensure efficient data exchange and network scalability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If access nodes are interconnected through a large number of distributors to support network growth, then network capacity and scalability are improved, but device complexity and difficulty of control increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the network into hierarchical levels (access nodes, access groups, distributor groups, core network) to manage complexity. Each level handles specific functions and connects to the next level through standardized interfaces, allowing the network to scale without proportionally increasing overall complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
Distributor groups act as intermediary components between access groups and the core network. These intermediaries aggregate connections and provide a simplified interface to the core network, reducing the number of direct connections required and thereby reducing overall network complexity while maintaining scalability.
2Reliability
If multiple paths for data transmission are provided through constellations of distributors, then network reliability and performance are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the network into multiple distributor constellations organized in hierarchical levels. Each constellation provides specific connectivity functions (intra-access-group, inter-access-group, access-to-core), and multiple paths are formed by combining these segmented constellations rather than creating a fully meshed complex structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces hierarchical dimensions (access level, distributor group level, core level) to organize multiple transmission paths. Instead of creating redundancy at a single level which would increase complexity, paths are distributed across multiple hierarchical dimensions, providing reliability while maintaining structural organization.
3Productivity
If distributors are configured to scale to interconnect large numbers of access nodes, then network capacity is improved, but ease of operation and control deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Distributor groups serve as intermediary aggregation points that simplify control operations. Instead of controlling individual distributors connected to each access node, the hierarchical structure allows control operations to be performed at the distributor group level, maintaining ease of operation while supporting large network capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent designs distributors and distributor groups with universal interfaces and standardized functions that can handle multiple access nodes and traffic types. This multi-functionality allows the same control mechanisms to manage growing network capacity without requiring increasingly complex specialized control systems.
4Adaptability or versatility
If access nodes are arranged into access groups and bands with multiple constellations, then network scalability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments access nodes into access groups and organizes distributor connections into hierarchical bands and constellations. This segmentation allows the network to grow by adding discrete units (access groups, distributor groups) rather than requiring reconfiguration of the entire network, improving scalability while keeping individual unit complexity manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces organizational dimensions (access groups, distributor groups, hierarchical bands) to structure the network. These dimensional organizations provide a framework for scalable growth where new nodes are integrated into existing dimensional structures rather than requiring complex pairwise connections, thereby improving scalability without proportionally increasing complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Constellations of distributors interconnect access nodes to form a vast contiguous network. The access nodes are generally geographically spread and the constellations are generally geographically spread, however the distributors within each constellation are collocated. The access nodes are arranged into access groups. The access nodes of each access group interconnect through selected constellations, with each access node having a wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) link to each of the selected constellations, to form a three-stage network. The three-stage networks corresponding to the access groups are mutually fused so that an access node of any three-stage network has multiple paths, each traversing one distributor, to each other access node of the same three-stage network and a path to each other access node of the entire network traversing one distributor. The distributors are preferable configured as fast optical switches. The network is structured to provide global coverage without the need for conventional cross-connectors.