Optical Path Section Detour via Alarm Comparison
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Solution Overview
Problem
In all-optical communication systems, it is challenging to implement fault avoidance for each link due to the inability to convert optical signals to electrical signals, leading to inefficient detour operations and increased costs, especially when multiple faults occur, as conventional methods require converting optical signals to electrical form for fault detection and switchover, which is not feasible in intermediate nodes.
Innovation Solution
The system employs optical communication apparatuses with optical cross connectors, WDM transfer links, and a control channel, featuring first and second monitors, an alarm comparator, and a detour executor to compare alarm statuses and execute section detours around faulty locations without converting optical signals, using pseudo alarms to manage detours and avoid erroneous operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If optical signals are converted to electrical signals for fault detection in conventional systems, then fault detection precision is improved, but device complexity and cost increase due to requiring O/E conversion equipment at terminating nodes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical/electrical conversion system with an all-optical monitoring system. Instead of converting optical signals to electrical signals for fault detection, the system uses optical monitoring methods that maintain signals in the optical domain throughout, eliminating the need for O/E conversion equipment at intermediate nodes while preserving fault detection capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an optical monitoring mechanism as an intermediary that can detect faults without requiring full optical-to-electrical conversion. This intermediary monitoring system enables fault detection in the optical domain itself, avoiding the complexity of electrical conversion equipment while maintaining measurement precision
2Reliability
If stand-by routes are secured for each path to enable fault avoidance, then reliability is improved, but cost increases excessively due to requiring node/link disjoint routes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the optical path into multiple sections and implements section-level detour capability. Instead of requiring complete path-level stand-by routes, the system divides the path and enables localized detours around faulty sections, reducing the total resources needed for redundancy while maintaining reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by enabling detour functionality at specific sections rather than requiring complete path redundancy. This allows the system to have different protection levels at different locations, securing stand-by routes only where section-level protection is needed, thereby reducing overall system cost while maintaining reliability
3Device complexity
If optical signals are not converted to electrical signals in transit nodes, then device complexity is reduced, but fault detection capability deteriorates due to inability to monitor optical paths
Solution Approach 1:
The patent substitutes electrical signal conversion with optical monitoring techniques. Instead of converting optical signals to electrical signals for monitoring, the system employs all-optical monitoring methods that can detect faults directly in the optical domain, maintaining device simplicity while restoring fault detection capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses optical copying or monitoring mechanisms that create information about the optical signal state without requiring full conversion. This allows fault detection through optical means alone, preserving the low-complexity advantage of all-optical systems while achieving the measurement precision needed for reliable fault detection
4Ease of manufacture
If section detour is implemented in all-optical systems, then cost is reduced by avoiding O/E conversion, but erroneous detour operations occur due to multiple faults
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms that monitor the state of optical paths and provide information to control detour operations. By continuously monitoring alarm statuses and using this feedback to determine whether detours are appropriate, the system avoids erroneous detour operations while maintaining the cost benefits of all-optical section detour capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary monitoring and assessment of alarm statuses before executing detour operations. By evaluating the state of multiple monitors and alarm conditions in advance, the system determines whether a detour is truly necessary, preventing erroneous detours caused by multiple simultaneous faults while maintaining operational simplicity
Data Source
AI summary
The optical communication system of the present invention is constructed with a data plane and a control plane, and includes a first monitor for monitoring a path alarm on the data plane, a second monitor for monitoring a path alarm on the control plane, and an alarm comparator for comparing alarm statuses of the optical paths that the first monitor and the second monitor preserve, wherein an optical communication apparatus, of which the first monitor and the second monitor both are in a status of having detected the alarm, operate so as to start an operation of avoiding a fault. Such a configuration makes it possible to make a detour only around an appropriate section including a fault location without performing an erroneous operation when a fault has occurred in an optical path, in which a plurality of detour sections, in an all-optical communication system.