Multi-Fabric Network Shelf for Transport Network Latency Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current transport networks using routers, multiservice provisioning platforms (MSSPs), and optical add drop multiplexers (OADMs) are expensive, resource-intensive, and suffer from high latency due to their reliance on obsolete SONET/SDH circuit-based hierarchies, which are inadequate for the increasing packet traffic driven by internet-based applications.
Innovation Solution
A network element with three integrated fabrics - a packet fabric, an electrical fabric, and an optical fabric within a single shelf, enabling optical switching, packet switching, and inter-fabric circuitry for efficient lambda switching and error correction, thereby eliminating the need for packet processing at intermediate nodes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If routers are used to process IP packets at intermediate nodes, then packet routing functionality is provided, but network cost and resource consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts packet processing functionality from intermediate nodes by implementing end-to-end packet switching between source and destination nodes. Intermediate nodes only perform optical switching on lambda streams without extracting or processing individual packets, thereby eliminating the need for complex router hardware at each node while maintaining packet routing capability through source-destination pairing information stored in memory.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism where source and destination nodes establish packet switching paths and store pairing information in memory. This allows intermediate optical switches to forward packets along pre-established paths without intelligent processing, acting as simple optical mediators that reduce complexity while maintaining routing functionality.
2Adaptability or versatility
If packet processing is performed at intermediate nodes, then routing decisions can be made, but latency increases due to multiple processing stops
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes packet processing operations from intermediate nodes, extracting only the essential optical switching function. By pre-establishing packet paths between source and destination nodes and storing pairing information in memory, the system eliminates repeated packet processing at each intermediate node, thereby reducing latency while maintaining routing capability through pre-computed paths.
3Power
If MSSPs based on SONET/SDH hierarchy are used, then optical signal transmission is provided, but the system becomes obsolete for increasing packet traffic
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges optical switching with packet switching capabilities in a unified system. By implementing end-to-end packet switching over optical networks with source-destination pairing information stored in memory, the system combines the high-capacity optical transmission capability with modern packet traffic handling, making the network adaptable to increasing packet traffic while maintaining optical signal transmission power.
4Adaptability or versatility
If optical add drop multiplexers are used, then optical signal routing is provided, but network performance deteriorates due to high latency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts intelligent packet processing from intermediate optical nodes, leaving only simple optical switching functions. By pre-establishing packet paths and storing source-destination pairing information in memory at endpoint nodes, the system eliminates repeated optical processing and packet extraction at intermediate add-drop multiplexers, thereby reducing latency while maintaining optical signal routing capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A network element of a transport network has three fabrics housed within a single shelf of a telco rack, namely a packet fabric, an electrical fabric and an optical fabric. A stream of traffic including a plurality of lambdas is received at a trunk interface of such a shelf. The optical fabric in the shelf performs optical switching on the stream to replace a first lambda in the stream with a second lambda. The first lambda is converted within the shelf into an electrical signal. Also within the shelf, first frames are recovered from the electrical signal. The packet fabric in the shelf is used to perform packet switching on the first frames to generate a flow of second frames. The flow of second frames is transmitted at a client interface of the shelf.