SDN Optical Label Swapping with Flex-Grid WSS
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current fiber-optic networks face challenges in efficiently managing high data transmission capacities and flexibility, particularly with the increasing demand for internet services, as existing technologies struggle to dynamically allocate bandwidth and route high-speed data flows effectively without significant power consumption or performance degradation.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a software-defined network (SDN) system that uses a flex-grid wavelength selective switch (WSS) for dynamic optical label swapping, where a Nyquist-shaped payload signal and an optical label are transmitted together, with the label being inserted or swapped at nodes using a flex-grid WSS controlled by SDN, allowing for flexible routing and forwarding of high-speed data flows without optoelectronic conversion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If optical label swapping is implemented using traditional methods, then routing functionality is provided, but spectral flexibility is limited and bandwidth allocation is inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the optical signal into distinct components: a payload signal carrying data and an optical label signal carrying routing information. These segments are transmitted separately at different bandwidth spacings (e.g., payload at 75 GHz, label at 25 GHz) within a unified 100 GHz grid framework. This segmentation enables independent optimization of each component's spectral characteristics while maintaining overall system flexibility and simplifying the label swapping mechanism at network nodes.
2Productivity
If high data transmission capacity is achieved using coherent communication, then bandwidth is increased, but power consumption and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional optoelectronic conversion mechanisms with all-optical label swapping. Instead of converting optical signals to electrical signals for processing and back again (which consumes significant power), the system performs label extraction, routing decision, and label insertion entirely in the optical domain using optical filters and wavelength selective switches. This substitution eliminates multiple power-intensive conversion stages while maintaining high data transmission capacity through coherent communication techniques.
3Ease of operation
If optical label is inserted adjacent to payload signal, then routing control is enabled, but bandwidth spacing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a nested structure where the optical label signal is positioned adjacent to and alongside the payload signal within a hierarchical bandwidth framework. The label occupies a smaller bandwidth spacing (e.g., 25 GHz) that is nested within or adjacent to the larger payload bandwidth spacing (e.g., 75 GHz), both fitting within a standardized 100 GHz grid. This nesting approach enables routing control functionality while efficiently utilizing spectral resources without requiring excessive total bandwidth allocation.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of optical label swapping implemented by a switch used in a software defined network system that in one embodiment includes providing a 400-Gbit/s payload having a Nyquist shaped carrier in a 75-Ghz bandwidth spacing using a payload generator module controlling at least one first optical laser, and inserting a first optical label adjacent to the payload flow in a remainder of a 100-Ghz bandwidth with a label generator controlling at least one second optical laser. The label generator and the payload generator are controlled by a software defined network (SDN). A package of the payload and the first optical label is transmitted to a receiving node. The optical label can be swapped at the receiving node with a flex grid wavelength selective switch (WSS) controlled by the software defined network.