Passive Optical Ethernet Switching for Collision-Free Uplink
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Solution Overview
Problem
As network scale grows larger, the deployment of active switches in Ethernet becomes increasingly complex, and the management of switches becomes more challenging, particularly in full-duplex data exchange between central office and terminal devices.
Innovation Solution
A data transmission method utilizing a core Ethernet device with a MAC chip and optical module, enabling passive optical splitting through an optical splitter, where uplink packets are transmitted within distinct sending periods and downlink packets are broadcasted, eliminating the need for active switches and external chips, and achieving time-division sending using the CSMA/CD mechanism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If active switches are deployed to enable full-duplex data exchange between central office and terminal devices, then data transmission efficiency is improved, but device complexity and management difficulty increase significantly as network scale grows
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the active switching function from the network architecture and replaces it with a passive optical splitter. The passive splitter divides the optical signal to multiple access devices without requiring active electronics at the splitting point, thereby eliminating the complexity of deploying and managing active switches while maintaining full-duplex communication capability through separate uplink and downlink paths
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a passive optical splitter as an intermediary component between the central office and access devices. This passive component mediates the signal distribution without requiring power, control, or management, thus improving data transmission efficiency while reducing device complexity and management overhead as network scale increases
2Device complexity
If passive optical splitting is used to reduce device complexity, then deployment complexity is reduced, but uplink packet collisions may occur without proper time division management
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic time-division multiplexing where each access device is assigned specific time slots for uplink transmission. The system periodically allocates sending periods to different access devices, ensuring that only one device transmits during its designated period. This periodic time division prevents uplink packet collisions while maintaining the simplicity of passive optical splitting architecture
3Ease of operation
If traditional Ethernet CSMA/CD mechanism is used for uplink transmission, then ease of operation is maintained, but packet collisions occur in passive optical network environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the fundamental transmission parameter from contention-based CSMA/CD to scheduled time-division transmission. Instead of allowing devices to contend for the medium with random delays, the system assigns deterministic time slots to each device based on their identification and traffic requirements. This parameter change eliminates collisions while maintaining operational simplicity through automated time slot allocation and enforcement
Data Source
AI summary
The present application discloses an Ethernet device and a data transmission method. A core Ethernet device includes a first Ethernet MAC chip and a first optical module. The first optical module is configured to receive an uplink packet sent by an optical splitter. The uplink packet is sent by a first access Ethernet device to the optical splitter within a first sending period. The first sending period does not overlap with one or more second sending periods corresponding to one or more second access Ethernet devices connected to the optical splitter. The first Ethernet MAC chip is configured to transmit a downlink packet to the first optical module. The first optical module is further configured to send the downlink packet to the optical splitter, so that the optical splitter sends the downlink packet to the first access Ethernet device and the one or more second access Ethernet devices.