Optical Switches with Power Detectors for Fast Fault Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current network protection systems face challenges in quickly recovering from fiber cuts and equipment faults, leading to prolonged downtime and increased costs due to slow fault recovery times and limited protection against multiple fiber breaks.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of intelligent optical switches with optical power detectors that autonomously switch to alternative paths upon detecting a loss in optical power, utilizing physical layer triggering to rapidly reconfigure communications paths and share protection bandwidth across multiple working lines, thereby enhancing network availability and reducing recovery times.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional communication-based fault detection and switching is used, then network components can communicate and coordinate switching around failures, but fault recovery times are slow leading to prolonged downtime
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical/electronic communication-based fault detection system with an optical-based detection system. Optical switches with integrated power detectors directly monitor optical signal power levels and autonomously switch paths when faults are detected, eliminating the need for communication protocols and coordination between network components. This substitution of the detection and response mechanism from electrical/communication domain to optical domain dramatically reduces fault recovery time while maintaining high network availability.
2Reliability
If protection bandwidth is allocated for each working line, then each line can be protected against fiber faults, but the use of protection bandwidth is inefficient due to limited sharing across multiple working lines
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal protection mechanism where a single protection path can serve multiple working lines simultaneously. The optical switches monitor all working lines and can dynamically switch any affected working line to the shared protection path. This multi-functional approach allows the same protection infrastructure to protect multiple different working lines, significantly improving bandwidth utilization efficiency while maintaining comprehensive protection coverage for all lines.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution significantly reduces network fault recovery times, improves fiber utilization, and enhances network availability by enabling automatic reconfiguration and protection against multiple fiber faults, ensuring efficient use of protection paths and minimizing downtime.
Implementation Method 1
optical power detectors that autonomously switch to alternative paths upon detecting a loss in optical power
Data Source
AI summary
Current network switching architectures require communication with a higher level network control plane, which can be slow to reroute communications, resulting in unacceptable losses of communications for customers. Examples embodiments of the present invention reroute communications faster detecting optical power of an optical signal at optical switches coupled via optical communication paths, and causing at least one optical communication path between a first optical switch and second optical switch to switch to an alternative optical communication path, in part, through physical layer triggering in an event optical power at at least one of the first or second optical switches falls below a threshold level. Switching in response to physical layer triggering may result in reduced switching times and, consequently, faster restoration of communications to customers after a network fault interruption.