Wavelength-Agnostic Data Center Network Optical Interconnect
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current data center networks face scalability issues due to bandwidth oversubscription, high latency, and complexity in wiring and control, particularly in multi-tier architectures, which hinder efficient data exchange and traffic management within data centers.
Innovation Solution
A system employing wavelength-agnostic optical transceivers and optical devices that operate within a switch fabric, allowing servers to tune their wavelengths for direct communication without intermediate switches, thereby eliminating oversubscription and reducing latency, and simplifying the optical interconnect by using wavelength-tunable optical transceivers and optical devices that demultiplex and multiplex signals without pre-provisioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a multi-tier architecture with ToR switches and aggregation switches is used, then network coverage and connectivity are improved, but bandwidth oversubscription increases and latency increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the wavelength selection function from the switch fabric and places it at the endpoint transceivers. This allows direct optical connections between endpoints without requiring intermediate switches to manage wavelength allocation, thereby eliminating bandwidth oversubscription at switch layers while maintaining full network coverage through wavelength-division multiplexing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces wavelength as an additional dimension for data transmission, enabling multiple simultaneous connections through the same physical infrastructure. By using wavelength-division multiplexing at the optical layer, the system achieves expanded network capacity without adding more physical switches or cables, thus improving coverage without increasing oversubscription.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a multi-tier architecture with multiple switches and routers is used, then network coverage and connectivity are improved, but network latency increases due to multiple store-and-forward processes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes intermediate switching nodes from the data path by enabling direct optical connections between endpoints. The wavelength selection capability is extracted and placed at the endpoint transceivers, allowing data to traverse the optical network without being stopped, stored, and forwarded at each switch, thereby minimizing latency while maintaining network coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces wavelength-multiplexed optical fibers as an intermediary medium that carries multiple simultaneous data streams. This allows multiple logical connections to share the same physical infrastructure without requiring physical switches at each intersection, reducing the number of store-and-forward operations while maintaining comprehensive network connectivity.
3Reliability
If a multi-tier architecture with dedicated wiring for each connection is used, then network coverage and reliability are improved, but device complexity and wiring complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the optical fiber infrastructure universal by enabling a single fiber to carry multiple wavelength channels simultaneously. Each endpoint transceiver can select and transmit on different wavelengths, allowing the same physical wiring to support multiple logical connections with the reliability of dedicated paths, thereby reducing wiring complexity while maintaining network reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of signal transmission by introducing wavelength as a variable. Instead of requiring dedicated physical paths for each connection, the system uses wavelength-division multiplexing to create virtual dedicated paths over shared infrastructure. This parameter change reduces wiring complexity while maintaining the reliability characteristics of dedicated connections through wavelength-specific signal isolation.
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 enhances data center network performance by improving oversubscription rates, reducing network latency, and simplifying optical interconnects, enabling high-bandwidth, low-latency data exchange with reduced complexity and power consumption.
Implementation Method 1
The optical device, when operative, wavelength demultiplexes optical signals received from each switch from the set of switches
Implementation Method 2
Each server from the set of servers is associated with at least one wavelength from a set of wavelengths upon connection to the optical device
Data Source
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AI summary
In some embodiments, a system includes a set of servers, a set of switches within a switch fabric, and an optical device. The optical device is operatively coupled to the set of servers via a first set of optical fibers. Each server from the set of servers is associated with at least one wavelength from a set of wavelengths upon connection to the optical device. The optical device is operatively coupled to each switch from a set of switches via an optical fiber from a second set of optical fibers. The optical device, when operative, wavelength demultiplexes optical signals received from each switch from the set of switches, and sends, for each wavelength from the set of wavelengths, optical signals for that wavelength to the server from the set of servers.