CIENA CORPORATION Patent applications |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20160134361 | GENERALIZED SERVICE PROTECTION SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Systems and methods for ring protection switching in a network based on selectively blocking and unblocking a port include forwarding traffic via the port over a data channel that utilizes a first service identifier, wherein the data channel is routed in the network along a closed loop; and selectively blocking and unblocking traffic on the port to provide the ring protection switching over the closed loop, wherein the selectively blocking and unblocking is performed based on a management channel that utilizes a second service identifier that is a different type from the first service identifier. | 05-12-2016 |
20160119075 | FLEXIBLE ETHERNET AND MULTI LINK GEARBOX MAPPING PROCEDURE TO OPTICAL TRANSPORT NETWORK - A flexible mapping method to map a Physical Coding Sublayer (PCS) structure from Flexible Ethernet and/or Multi Link Gearbox (MLG) to Optical Transport Network (OTN), includes receiving one or more Virtual Lanes; and mapping each of the one or more Virtual Lanes into a Tributary Slot, wherein a rate and number of the Tributary Slot(s) in OTN is set based on a rate and number of the one or more Virtual Lanes. A transport system and a flexible de-mapping method are also described. The systems and methods map the generalized MLG-style group of lanes (virtual PHYs/PMDs) into an OPUflex Tributary Slot (TS) structure, keeping PCS structures intact, and creates a single ODUflex container with a matching rate of FlexE for end-to-end flow. | 04-28-2016 |
20160112327 | OPTICAL AND PACKET PATH COMPUTATION AND SELECTION SYSTEMS AND METHODS - A method for path computation in a network includes determining dynamic link weights for links in the network, responsive to a request for a path, for a connection, between a source node and a destination node in the network with a requested bandwidth amount, wherein the dynamic link weights, for each link, are based on a current status of the link and a future status of the link; determining one or more paths for the request based on the dynamic link weights; and selecting a path of the one or more paths to minimize cost in the network. The method can be implemented through a Software Defined Networking (SDN) controller. | 04-21-2016 |
20160105990 | ELECTRONIC SHELF ASSEMBLY INCORPORATING SPRING LOADED CIRCUIT PACK LATCH RAILS - An electronic shelf assembly configured to selectively receive a circuit pack including a pivotable handle incorporating a retention hook, the electronic shelf assembly including: a shelf assembly housing configured to selectively receive the circuit pack; a support rail coupled to the shelf assembly housing; a latch rail member movably coupled to the support rail and defining a recess configured to selectively receive and retain the retention hook of the pivotable handle of the circuit pack, thereby selectively securing the circuit pack within the shelf assembly housing; and a spring mechanism coupled to the latch rail member and the support rail, wherein the spring mechanism allows for relative movement of the latch rail member with respect to the support rail while biasing the latch rail member towards the support rail, thereby selectively biasing the circuit pack into the shelf assembly housing. | 04-14-2016 |
20160105380 | MAKE-BEFORE-BREAK SYSTEMS AND METHODS DECOUPLING A CONTROL PLANE FROM A DATA PLANE - A Make-Before-Break (MBB) method, in a node operating in a network with a control plane, decoupling the control plane from a data plane, includes, for a connection operating on a path in the network, determining a reserved connection on a new path, through the control plane, wherein the reserved connection has zero bandwidth; signaling the reserved connection on the new path; creating the reserved connection in the control plane while suspending implementation in the data plane due to the zero bandwidth; and releasing the connection on the path and modifying the reserved connection on the new path to establish the connection on the new path. | 04-14-2016 |
20160099964 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO DETECT AND DEFEND AGAINST DISTRIBUTED DENIAL OF SERVICE ATTACKS - A method, operated by a Software Defined Networking (SDN) controller associated with an Autonomous System (AS) with one or more peering points, each peering point with an associated router communicatively coupled to the SDN controller, the method for detecting and defending against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, and the method includes receiving data from the one or more peering points; detecting malicious traffic at the one or more peering points; determining a peer quality measurement for the one or more peering points; and communicating the peer quality measurement and other data associated with the malicious traffic to one or more other SDN controllers, associated with Autonomous Systems connected through the one or more peering points, to facilitate convergence of the peer quality measurement back to a nominal level. | 04-07-2016 |
20160087882 | HEADER SPACE ANALYSIS EXTENSION SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TRANSPORT NETWORKS - A method for validation of a packet transport network includes performing a header space analysis, with input headers to obtain output headers from the header space analysis, between one or more ingress points and a particular egress point; determining disjointness of the output headers; and determining validity of a point-to-point connection property of the packet transport network based on the disjointness of the output headers. The header space analysis allows near-real-time validation that packet transport flows in an Multiprotocol Label Switching-Transport Profile (MPLS-TP) network have been correctly programmed on the switches by a Software Defined Networking (SDN) controller or other technique such that the correct label mappings have been made to carry a flow from a source to a destination, and all flows from any source to a destination are isolated from one another. | 03-24-2016 |
20160080342 | SECURE ACCESS SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO NETWORK ELEMENTS OPERATING IN A NETWORK - A network element, configured to operate in a network to provide various network functions therein, includes a main processor communicatively coupled to a main memory, wherein the main processor is configured to perform Operations, Administration, Maintenance, and Provisioning (OAM&P) associated with the network element, wherein the main processor is accessible through one or more access techniques; and a supervisory plane comprising a secure processor and a secure memory communicatively coupled thereto, wherein the supervisory plane is separate from and communicatively coupled to the main processor and the main memory, the supervisory plane is configured to allow secure, direct access to the main processor and the main memory. | 03-17-2016 |
20160080110 | PRECISION TIME TRANSFER SYSTEMS AND METHODS IN OPTICAL NETWORKS - A precision time transfer method, in a first node that communicates with a second node, to determine a difference in time between the first node and the second node, the precision time transfer method includes receiving a departure time, T | 03-17-2016 |
20160080084 | DIGITAL OPTICAL SPECTRAL SHAPING - A method and system for generating an optical channel signal for transmission through an optical fiber link of an optical communications system. A digital filter processes an input data signal using a compensation function and a shaping function to generate a pair of multi-bit sample streams representing a target optical E-field envelope of the optical channel signal. A modulator modulates an optical carrier light using the pair of multi-bit sample streams to generate the optical channel signal. The compensation function is designed to at least partially compensate impairments of the optical fiber link. The predetermined shaping function is designed to modify a baseband spectrum of the target optical E-field envelope. | 03-17-2016 |
20160072576 | LIVE MONITORING OF RAMAN AND FIBER DEGRADATION IN DWDM NETWORKS USING IN-SERVICE OTDR - A method of analysing performance of an optical fiber link. As a preliminary step, a reference trace indicative of a distributed optical performance of the optical fiber link is derived. During in-service operation of the optical fiber link, an Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (OTDR) sub-system measures an OTDR trace with Raman amplification ON, and a real-time cumulative Raman Gain profile of the optical fiber link is calculated based on the reference trace and the measured OTDR trace. | 03-10-2016 |
20160066466 | LOW PROFILE COMPLIANT LATCH ASSEMBLY AND ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT CARD AND CHASSIS INCORPORATING SAME - A latch assembly operable for securing an electronic circuit card in a chassis such that connectors associated with the electronic circuit card and a backplane of the chassis are properly coupled, the latch assembly including: an elongate handle structure, wherein a proximal end of the elongate handle structure defines a hole and includes a protruding portion that is configured to engage a recess or lip associated with the chassis, and wherein a distal end of the elongate handle structure includes a handle portion; a spring structure partially obstructing the hole defined by the proximal end of the elongate handle structure; and a rotation member disposed through the hole and configured to engage the electronic circuit card, wherein the spring structure partially obstructing the hole contacts a portion of the rotation member. | 03-03-2016 |
20160057518 | FLEXIBLE SMART SLEEVE SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PLUGGABLE TRANSCEIVERS - A flexible smart sleeve system for a pluggable transceiver includes a pluggable sleeve configured to selectively engage a pluggable transceiver; a smart enclosure configured to selectively engage a host device, wherein the host device is configured for the pluggable transceiver; and a flexible cable connecting the pluggable sleeve to the smart enclosure. A network with a flexible smart sleeve system for a pluggable transceiver includes a network switch; a customer premises switch comprising a host cage configured for the pluggable transceiver; and a flexible smart sleeve system configured to engage the host cage and to engage the pluggable transceiver, wherein the flexible smart sleeve system is configured to provide Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM) to the network switch. | 02-25-2016 |
20160057219 | DATA SYNCHRONIZATION SYSTEM AND METHODS IN A NETWORK USING A HIGHLY-AVAILABLE KEY-VALUE STORAGE SYSTEM - A data synchronization method, in a network element operating in a network, includes generating an event at the network element that needs to be synchronized with other devices in the network; based on assigned tokens for the network element, generating a row key for the event; and providing the row key to a Highly-Available (HA) key-value storage system for synchronization therewith, wherein the HA key-value storage system includes a plurality of nodes including the network element and the other devices. | 02-25-2016 |
20160057039 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO COMPUTE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF NETWORK SERVICES WITH NETWORK FUNCTION VIRTUALIZATION (NFV) AND SOFTWARE DEFINED NETWORKING (SDN) - A method, through a server, to determine carbon footprint of a network service, in a network, includes determining power consumption and cooling requirements of network devices associated with the network service; determining associated carbon footprint coefficients for power sources associated with each of the network devices; and determining carbon footprint of the network service based on the power consumption, the cooling requirements, and the associated carbon footprint coefficients. | 02-25-2016 |
20160056914 | OTN ADAPTATION FOR SUPPORT OF SUBRATE GRANULARITY AND FLEXIBILITY AND FOR DISTRIBUTION ACROSS MULTIPLE MODEM ENGINES - Systems and methods for Optical Transport Network (OTN) adaptation to provide sub-rate granularity and distribution include segmenting an OTN signal into N flows of cells with associated identifiers, based on tributary slots of the OTN signal, wherein N≧0, and wherein the cells do not include unallocated payload from the OTN signal; switching the cells to a scheduler; and scheduling, from the scheduler, the cells for a line side modem. | 02-25-2016 |
20160050119 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SETTING UP END-TO-END TRAFFIC ENGINEERED ETHERNET LINE SERVICES - A method, a switch, and a network includes receiving a request for an Ethernet service at a Maintenance End Point (MEP) in a network, wherein the Ethernet service has a destination of a Remote MEP (RMEP), and wherein the request includes bandwidth amounts for the request; utilizing Link Trace messaging to the RMEP to detect an active path to the RMEP; and utilizing Loop Back messaging to the RMEP to reserve bandwidth based on the bandwidth amounts on the active path. | 02-18-2016 |
20160049964 | NOVEL FORWARD ERROR CORRECTION ARCHITECTURE AND IMPLEMENTATION FOR POWER/SPACE EFFICIENT TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS - A concatenated Forward Error Correction (FEC) code method, at an intermediate point, includes receiving, from an ingress point, a signal that is fully encoded with a concatenated FEC code, wherein the concatenated FEC code includes at least an inner code and an outer code; partially decoding the signal by decoding the inner code at the intermediate point; and transmitting the partially decoded signal towards an egress point where the partially decoded signal is fully decoded. | 02-18-2016 |
20160048449 | PARALLEL TURBINE TERNARY CONTENT ADDRESSABLE MEMORY FOR HIGH-SPEED APPLICATIONS - A parallel turbine ternary content addressable memory includes one or more atoms in each of one or more rows, wherein each of the one or more atoms includes a memory with N addresses and a width of M logical lookup entries, wherein N and M are integers, one or more result registers, each with a width of M, wherein a number of the one or more result registers equals a number of one or more keys each with a length of N, and a read pointer configured to cycle through a row of the N addresses per clock cycle for comparison between the M logical entries and the one or more keys with a result of the comparison stored in an associated result register for each of the one or more keys. | 02-18-2016 |
20160044392 | ODUFLEX RESIZING SYSTEMS AND METHODS - An Optical channel Data Unit flex (ODUflex) resizing method, node, and network include determining that the ODUflex needs resizing, wherein the ODUflex is configured in the network on a current path between the node and a second node in the network; when the resizing is a decrease, reducing a size of the ODUflex by i) a resize decrease operation using a control plane or ii) a Link Aggregation Group and Make-Before-Break operation; and, when the resizing is an increase, increasing a size of the ODUflex by i) a resize increase operation using a control plane or ii) a Link Aggregation Group and Make-Before-Break operation. The method provides hitless resizing without using ITU Recommendation G.7044/Y.1347 (10/11) and can perform the reducing or the increasing changing bandwidth of the ODUflex by approximately 100 G in less than a second. | 02-11-2016 |
20160043797 | FAST MESH RESTORATION SYSTEMS AND METHOD WITH REAL TIME DETECTION OF FAULT LOCATION - Systems and methods for fast restoration in a network using a control plane include detecting a failure on a link associated with the node; and providing failure information through in-band data path overhead of an affected connection, wherein the in-band data path overhead is sent over a fast path, wherein the failure information is received at an originating node of the affected connection via the fast path, prior to the originating node receiving control plane signaling via a slow path relative to the fast path. | 02-11-2016 |
20160037676 | AIRFLOW DIVIDER FOR BALANCING AIRFLOW IN A MODULAR CHASSIS SYSTEM - A chassis supporting a plurality of circuit cards in an electronic and/or optical system includes one or more fans at an output of an exhaust air plenum, wherein the one or more fans are configured to enhance airflow from an intake air plenum to the output; and an airflow divider disposed in the exhaust air plenum and attached or disposed to the chassis, wherein the airflow divider is dimensioned and located in the exhaust air plenum to segment the exhaust air plenum into multiple sections causing balanced airflow from the intake air plenum to the output and over the circuit cards disposed in the chassis for cooling thereof. | 02-04-2016 |
20160037239 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SELECTION OF OPTIMAL ROUTING PARAMETERS FOR DWDM NETWORK SERVICES IN A CONTROL PLANE NETWORK - A method, in an intermediate node in a control plane network, includes receiving a setup message from an originating node, wherein the setup message is sent towards a terminating node on a computed path in the control plane network, and the setup message indicates associated Layer 0 attributes; validating the associated attributes/constraints based on locally available resources; and performing one of: forwarding the setup message on the path towards the terminating node when validation is successful; forwarding the setup message on the path towards the terminating node with updated information indicating a rejection cause and additional information when the validation is unsuccessful, but a modification of the Layer 0 attributes/constraints is possible; and forwarding a release message on the path back to the originating node with updated information indicating a rejection cause and additional information when the validation is unsuccessful and no modifications of the Layer 0 attributes/constraints are possible. | 02-04-2016 |
20160036714 | DYNAMIC PACKET TRAFFIC PERFORMANCE ADJUSTMENT SYSTEMS AND METHODS - A method, a network, and a network element use dynamic packet traffic performance adjustment techniques. In an exemplary embodiment, the dynamic resizing techniques utilize different packet connections providing connectivity to same sites between which bandwidth resizing is needed. Each of the packet connections has a separate and independent bandwidth profile that governs an amount of traffic that is dispatched over each packet connection. A network element sourcing traffic into the packet connections uses bridge functionality that dispatches client traffic onto all of the packet connections or an individual packet connection. This effectively means that the transport network bandwidth utilization is only consumed by a single packet connection, i.e., the packet connection-A (even through there are multiple configured). The network element sinking the traffic selects from a single active packet connection. | 02-04-2016 |
20160036694 | CONTINUITY CHECK PROTOCOL OPTIMIZATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS - A Continuity Check (CC) protocol optimization method in a switch includes operating a plurality of CC sessions with a peer switch, wherein, for CC intervals, N sessions of the plurality CC sessions are set to a short interval and M sessions of the plurality of CC sessions are set to a long interval, wherein N and M are integers; switching a first session of the N sessions with a second session of the M sessions based on one of a fault and user provisioning; and exchanging the CC intervals between the first session and the second session subsequent to the switching. | 02-04-2016 |
20160036520 | LOCALIZED NETWORK REPAIR SYSTEMS AND METHODS - A localized repair method in a network using a control plane includes, responsive to a failure on a local repair segment defined on a connection traversing the network, generating a release message in the control plane; attempting a local repair on the local repair segment; if the local repair is unsuccessful, transmitting the release message to redial the connection; and, if the local repair is successful, signaling a new sub-path based on the local repair. A controller and a network are also disclosed. | 02-04-2016 |
20160034761 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR EQUIPMENT INSTALLATION, CONFIGURATION, MAINTENANCE, AND PERSONNEL TRAINING - A method, performed by a server, for supporting equipment service at a site includes receiving, from Head Mounted Equipment (HME) associated with an installer at a site, data relating to an inventory and location of equipment at the site, wherein the data is collected by the HME during equipment service, wherein the equipment includes one or more of a circuit pack, a line module, a cable and power equipment; and checking the equipment service based on the received data and at least one of plans associated with the site and configuration rules of the equipment. | 02-04-2016 |
20160028602 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO DETECT AND PROPAGATE UNI OPERATIONAL SPEED MISMATCH IN ETHERNET SERVICES - A method, a network element, and a network operating an Ethernet service include transmitting information related to an operational speed of a first connection to the second switch, wherein the first switch is connected to a first Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) device through the first connection and the second switch is connected to a second CPE device through a second connection; receiving information related to an operational speed of the second connection; and triggering a modification to the Ethernet service, responsive to a mismatch between the operational speed of the first connection and the operational speed of the second connection. | 01-28-2016 |
20160028481 | SIGNAL EQUALIZER IN A COHERENT OPTICAL RECEIVER - A signal equalizer for compensating impairments of an optical signal received through a link of a high speed optical communications network. At least one set of compensation vectors are computed for compensating at least two distinct types of impairments. A frequency domain processor is coupled to receive respective raw multi-bit in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) sample streams of each received polarization of the optical signal. The frequency domain processor operates to digitally process the multi-bit sample streams, using the compensation vectors, to generate multi-bit estimates of symbols modulated onto each transmitted polarization of the optical signal. The frequency domain processor exhibits respective different responses to each one of the at least two distinct types of impairments. | 01-28-2016 |
20160020973 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR COLLECTING AND ANALYZING DATA TO DETERMINE LINK QUALITY AND STABILITY IN LAYER TWO NETWORKS - A method and network element include receiving, at a receiver node, at least one of sender timestamps and sequence numbers in continuity check (CC) frames sent by a sender node; determining receiver timestamps at the receiver node; detecting instability based on one or more of the at least one of sender timestamps and sequence numbers and the receiver timestamps; and performing a remedial action based on the detecting instability. The CC frames can include Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) or Continuity Check Message (CCM) frames which are regularly transmitted in a session, but do not currently include timestamps or sequence numbers. | 01-21-2016 |
20150381454 | SIMPLIFYING QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF TIME-BOUNDED RESOURCE CONSUMPTION - A method implemented in a time-bounded resource management system for managing a resource is described. The time-bounded resource management system includes a processor communicatively coupled to a database. The method includes storing each resource consumption event of the resource as a balanced pair of entries in the database, wherein the balanced pair of entries comprise 1) a first entry comprising a start time for the resource consumption event and a positive resource consumption amount and 2) a second entry comprising an end time for the resource consumption event and a negative resource consumption amount with the same magnitude as the positive resource consumption amount; receiving a query related to the resource; performing computations on entries in the database related to the query; and providing a result based on the computations as a response to the query. | 12-31-2015 |
20150381428 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR COMBINED SOFTWARE DEFINED NETWORKING AND DISTRIBUTED NETWORK CONTROL - A hybrid control method for a network includes operating edge switches under software defined networking control, wherein each of the edge switches is communicatively coupled to a controller for the software defined networking control; operating non-adjacent switches communicatively coupling the edge switches together under distributed control, wherein the non-adjacent switches are not coupled to the controller; and utilizing the controller to route traffic between the edge switches through the non-adjacent switches in a hybrid control scheme including both the software defined networking control and the distributed control. | 12-31-2015 |
20150381281 | HIGH SPEED SIGNAL GENERATOR - A high-speed signal generator. A digital signal processing (DSP) block generates a set of N (where N is an integer and N≧2) parallel digital sub-band signals, each digital sub-band signal having frequency components within a spectral range between 0 Hz and ±Fs/2, where Fs is a sample rate of the digital sub-band signals. A respective Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) processes each digital sub-band signal to generate a corresponding analog sub-band signal, each DAC having a sample rate of Fs/2. A combiner combines the analog sub-band signals to generate an output analog signal having frequency components within a spectral range between 0 Hz and ±NFs/2. | 12-31-2015 |
20150365739 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING AND PROPAGATING RESIZABILITY INFORMATION OF ODUFLEX CONNECTIONS - A method, in a network element, for detecting and propagating resizability information of an Optical channel Data Unit flex (ODUflex) connection includes receiving resizability information in overhead associated with the ODUflex connection, wherein the resizability information indicates a number of available tributary slots and whether the ODUflex connection is symmetric; and adjusting the resizability information based on a change in the available tributary slots due to a bandwidth change at the network element. The systems and methods include a solution to communicate, in real time, the resizability information of an ODUflex connection utilizing the associated data path to carry it instead of the management/control plane. | 12-17-2015 |
20150365294 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MANAGING CALL CONNECTIONS FROM NON-ORIGINATING NODES IN NETWORKS - A method for performing an operation at a non-originating node of a connection includes receiving a request for the operation; determining information associated with the connection; and signaling, based on the information and the operation, an originating node to cause the originating node to perform call connection management on the connection. A non-originating node includes a plurality of ports with at least one connection thereon; and a controller communicatively coupled to the plurality of ports and operating a control plane, wherein, for an operation of call connection management on the at least one connection, the controller is configured to: determine information associated with the at least one connection on a link formed by a port; and signal, based on the information and the operation, an originating node of the at least one connection to perform the call connection management on the at least one connection. | 12-17-2015 |
20150365193 | OTN SWITCHING SYSTEMS AND METHODS USING AN SDN CONTROLLER AND MATCH/ACTION RULES - A method and network include receiving a Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) connection; determining information in overhead of the TDM connection; and if match/action rules defined by controller exist for the TDM connection, establishing the TDM connection based on matching an associated rule in the match/action rules. A Software Defined Networking (SDN) controller is configured to receive a request from a node related to a new TDM connection in the network; determine one or more routes in the network for the new TDM connection; determine match/action rules for the one or more routes at associated nodes of the one or more nodes; if the one or more routes include at least two routes, determine a group table at associated nodes of the one or more nodes to distinguish between the at least two routes; and provide the match/action rules and the group table to the associated nodes. | 12-17-2015 |
20150365189 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR STATISTICAL MULTIPLEXING WITH OTN AND DWDM - A method includes profiling user-network interface (UNI) ports including Optical channel Data Unit flex (ODUflex) in a network; and adapting, using a max-flow routing criterion, network-network interface (NNI) ports comprising ODUflex based on the profiling. A network includes a plurality of network elements; a plurality of links interconnecting the plurality of network elements, wherein the plurality of links includes Layer 0 Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) bandwidth and Layer 1 Optical Transport Network (OTN) bandwidth; and a control plane operating between the plurality of network elements; wherein the Layer 0 DWDM bandwidth and the Layer 1 OTN bandwidth is statistically multiplexed using the control plane and manager based on monitoring bandwidth usage thereon over time. | 12-17-2015 |
20150334005 | NETWORK ROUTING SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR VALIDATION OF PATHS SUBSEQUENT TO VALIDATION FAILURE - A method, a network, and a node include computing a path by a source node; sending a message to nodes in the path with associated validation criteria; locally checking the validation criteria at each of the nodes in the path; if the validation criteria is satisfied at the node, forwarding the message to the next node in the path; else there is a validation criteria failure at the node, appending feedback data to the message, converting the message to a validation message, and forwarding the validation message to the next node in the path; and at a destination node, if there are no validation criteria failures, then establishing the connection; else issuing a release message to the source node with all the feedback such that the source node can compute a new path exclusive of nodes where the validation criteria fails. | 11-19-2015 |
20150333864 | MARGIN-BASED OPTIMIZATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS IN OPTICAL NETWORKS TO UNBLOCK SUPERCHANNELS - Systems and methods of increasing the supportable capacity from a first point to a second point in an optical network, include identifying a first optical signal that occupies a first portion of optical spectrum from the first point to the second point; identifying a second optical signal that occupies a second portion of the optical spectrum from the first point to the second point, wherein the second portion is adjacent to the first portion; adjusting the second optical signal to minimize part of or remove all of the second portion that is adjacent to the first optical signal to provide a freed up portion of the second portion; and adjusting the first optical signal to occupy some or all of the freed up portion. | 11-19-2015 |
20150333862 | MARGIN-BASED OPTIMIZATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS IN OPTICAL NETWORKS BY INTENTIONALLY REDUCING MARGIN - Systems and methods of optimizing capacity of an optical network, through intentionally reducing margin on one or more wavelengths, include identifying a first wavelength capable of using excess capacity; determining the one or more wavelengths that have extra margin; adjusting at least one of the one or more wavelengths to reduce associated margin to a nominal margin so as to increase supportable capacity of the first wavelength; and increasing capacity of the first wavelength based on the supportable capacity. | 11-19-2015 |
20150333824 | MARGIN-BASED OPTIMIZATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS IN OPTICAL NETWORKS FOR CAPACITY BOOSTING - Systems and methods of optimizing capacity of an optical network include identifying a first wavelength with an associated target capacity; determining that the first wavelength has insufficient capability to operate at the associated target capacity; and adjusting one or more wavelengths to increase capability of the first wavelength such that the first wavelength can operate at the associated target capacity. | 11-19-2015 |
20150317197 | PROACTIVE OPERATIONS, ADMINISTRATION, AND MAINTENANCE SYSTEMS AND METHODS IN NETWORKS USING DATA ANALYTICS - A computer-implemented method, a system, and a network include receiving network data from a network and non-network sourced data from one or more external sources relative to the network; performing data mining on the network data and the non-network sourced data; developing a predictive analytics model based on the data mining; and performing predictive analytics on the network data and the non-network sourced data using the predictive analytics model to detect likely future failures in the network. The network can include a Software Defined Network (SDN) operating at any of Layers 0, 1, 2 and/or 3. | 11-05-2015 |
20150304159 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DIVERSE CONNECTION SIGNALING FROM DISPARATE SOURCE NODES IN DISTRIBUTED CONNECTION-ORIENTED NETWORKS - A method in a network utilizing a distributed connection-oriented control plane includes signaling a first path for a first connection from a first source node; storing call information for the first connection at any intermediate nodes in the first path; signaling a second path for a second connection from a second source node; checking at any intermediate nodes in the second path if there is absolute route diversity between the first connection and the second connection responsive to a requirement therein; and responsive to detecting a diversity violation at an intermediate node of the any intermediate nodes in the second path, signaling a crankback to the second source node with the call information for the first connection included therein; and recomputing the second path exclusive of the first path based on the call information responsive to receiving the crankback. A network and node are also described. | 10-22-2015 |
20150295909 | INTEGRITY CHECK OPTIMIZATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS IN LIVE CONNECTIVITY FRAMES - A method, a network element, and a network include determining an authentication mechanism between two nodes in a network path; operating the network path; performing connectivity check between the two nodes in the network path; and authenticating specific frames in the connectivity check between the two nodes with the authentication mechanism responsive to the specific frames affecting a state of the network path. The frames can be Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD), Continuity Check Messages (CCMs), etc. Advantageously, the method, network element, and network reduce the computational load of providing authentication while maintaining secure authentication for important frames, i.e., ones that affect the state of the network path. | 10-15-2015 |
20150288598 | PACKET NETWORK LINEAR PROTECTION SYSTEMS AND METHODS IN A DUAL HOME OR MULTI-HOME CONFIGURATION - A packet network linear protection method, a network, and a node in a dual or multi-home configuration include designating each of a plurality of home nodes in the dual or multi-home configuration as a working home or a protect home; designating each link between each of the plurality of home nodes and an end node in the dual or multi-home configuration as active or standby; operating a protection switch state machine based on an associated linear protection protocol at each of the plurality of home nodes and the end node; communicating protection messages to each of the plurality of home nodes from the end node; and communicating protection states in an associated protection switch state machine by each of the plurality of home nodes to other home nodes and to the end node. | 10-08-2015 |
20150280938 | E-SPRING SUPPORT OF ETHERNET PROTECTION - A method of routing traffic through a packet network having a mesh physical topology. At least two types of network primitive are defined, each type of network primitive providing a respective model of traffic forwarding through at least two neighbour nodes of the network. A network model encompassing at least a portion of the network is constructed using a set of two or more interconnected network primitives. The network model has nodes and links corresponding to respective nodes and lines of the network. Respective forwarding information is computed for each node of the network model. For each node of the network model, the respective computed forwarding information is installed in a forwarding database of the corresponding node of the network, such that traffic is forwarded by each node of the network in accordance with the respective computed forwarding information. | 10-01-2015 |
20150271043 | BANDWIDTH ANALYTICS IN A SOFTWARE DEFINED NETWORK (SDN) CONTROLLED MULTI-LAYER NETWORK FOR DYNAMIC ESTIMATION OF POWER CONSUMPTION - A computer-implemented method, a controller, and a Software Defined Network (SDN) perform steps of correlating users based on unique identifiers to service addresses; receiving historical data from associated control area operator for the service addresses; correlating the users' bandwidth usage behavior to the users' power usage behavior; monitoring the users' bandwidth usage over time; characterizing bandwidth usage type for the users with abnormal bandwidth usage patterns; and notifying the control area operator of the users with the abnormal bandwidth usage patterns based on the characterized bandwidth usage type. Accordingly, electric power forecasting by the control area operator can include improved accuracy through correlating the users' bandwidth usage behavior and detecting abnormal conditions. | 09-24-2015 |
20150244470 | COORDINATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS BETWEEN DATA CONTROL PLANE AND PHOTONIC CONTROL IN OPTICAL NETWORKS - A method, a system, and a network for coordination between a data control plane and photonic control in a network include operating the data control plane with photonic control messaging included therein, wherein the data control plane is configured to at least establish end-to-end paths between a plurality of network elements at Layer 1; transmitting a photonic control message in or by the data control plane responsive to a requirement for photonic layer information; processing, via the data control plane, the photonic layer information received from photonic control responsive to the photonic control message, wherein the photonic control is configured to adjust photonic hardware responsive to a change at a photonic layer; and performing an action by the data control plane considering the photonic layer information. | 08-27-2015 |
20150237018 | METHOD FOR SECURELY CONFIGURING CUSTOMER PREMISE EQUIPMENT - A method for securely configuring a customer premise equipment in a network. The network including a configuration server, a DHCP server, and the customer premise equipment. The method includes receiving a request from the customer premise equipment for leasing an Internet Protocol (IP) address to the customer premise equipment. The method further includes embedding at least a portion of a Media Access Control (MAC) address of the customer premise equipment into the IP address leased to the customer premise equipment. The method includes leasing the IP address to the customer premise equipment. Further, the method enables authentication of customer premise equipment, before providing configuration to the customer premise equipment. The method includes use of characteristic attributes of the customer premise equipment to generate cryptographic keys for secure connection. Moreover, the method includes establishing a secure connection between the configuration server and the customer premise equipment for transfer of a configuration file and a set of encryption keys. The configuration file and the set of encryption keys are used to securely configure the customer premise equipment. | 08-20-2015 |
20150233388 | TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM COOLING FAN INCORPORATING A COMPACT VIBRATION ISOLATOR - The present invention provides a cooling fan assembly for use in a telecommunications system, including: a cooling fan; a housing; a rigid pin disposed through the housing an into a mounting hole manufactured into the cooling fan; a vibration isolator disposed about the rigid pin within the mounting hole; and a washer disposed about the rigid pin between the cooling fan and the housing. The vibration isolator is a cylindrical vibration isolator. The vibration isolator is made of a polymeric vibration damping material. The washer is made of material with a low coefficient of friction. The vibration isolator is operable for damping vibrations emanating from the cooling fan. The washer is operable for allowing some movement of the cooling fan perpendicular to the rigid pin. | 08-20-2015 |
20150229528 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MANAGING EXCESS OPTICAL CAPACITY AND MARGIN IN OPTICAL NETWORKS - A method, a network element, and a network include determining excess margin relative to margin needed to insure performance at a nominal guaranteed rate associated with a flexible optical modem configured to communicate over an optical link; causing the flexible optical modem to consume most or all of the excess margin, wherein the capacity increased above the nominal guaranteed rate includes excess capacity; and mapping the excess capacity to one or more logical interfaces for use by a management system, management plane, and/or control plane. The logical interfaces can advantageously be used by the management system, management plane, and/or control plane as one of restoration bandwidth or short-lived bandwidth-on-demand (BOD) connections, such as sub-network connections (SNCs) or label switched paths (LSPs). | 08-13-2015 |
20150229424 | OTN RATE ADJUSTMENT SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONTROL PLANE RESTORATION, CONGESTION CONTROL, AND NETWORK UTILIZATION - A method, a controller, and an Optical Transport Network (OTN) network include provisioning an end-to-end path with a defined committed information rate (CIR) and a peak information rate (PIR) via an optical control plane; computing a path for the end-to-end path based on the CIR and the PIR; configuring the end-to-end path on the computed path at an Optical Channel Data Unit (ODU) data rate supporting the PIR if the computed path can support the PIR or at the ODU data rate supporting the CIR if the computed path can support the CIR and not the PIR; and adjusting the ODU data rate of the end-to-end path based on a rate adjustment requirement in the OTN network and based on the CIR and the PIR. | 08-13-2015 |
20150229404 | HITLESS MODULATION SCHEME CHANGE SYSTEMS AND METHODS IN OPTICAL NETWORKS - A hitless modulation change method at a node in an optical network includes determining that a modulation change is warranted for an optical modem in the node, the optical modem configured to communicate over an optical link; determining an impact of the modulation change on the optical link and associated underlying connections thereon; causing changes in a data plane for the associated underlying connections, prior to performing the modulation change; and causing the modulation change subsequent to accommodating the associated underlying connections in the data plane, thereby minimizing interruptions of the associated underlying connections due to the modulation change. | 08-13-2015 |
20150222557 | MPLS AND GMPLS TUNNEL FLAP DAMPENING IN TRAFFIC ENGINEERED NETWORKS - Embodiments of the disclosure are directed to tunnel flap damping in a traffic engineered network. One exemplary method for tracking a re-routing history of Multi-Protocol Label Switching (“MPLS”)/Generalized MPLS (“GMPLS”) tunnels over intervals includes measuring a number of policy-based re-routes during at least one measurement interval; determining a tunnel re-route frequency based on the measurement; comparing the tunnel re-route frequency to a frequency threshold; and determining if the tunnel re-route frequency exceeds the frequency threshold and, if the tunnel re-route frequency exceeds the frequency threshold, delaying at least one tunnel re-route. | 08-06-2015 |
20150222360 | DIGITAL OPTICAL SPECTRAL SHAPING - A method and system for generating an optical channel signal for transmission through an optical fiber link of an optical communications system. A digital filter processes an input data signal using a compensation function and a shaping function to generate a pair of multi-bit sample streams representing a target optical E-field envelope of the optical channel signal. A modulator modulates an optical carrier light using the pair of multi-bit sample streams to generate the optical channel signal. The compensation function is designed to at least partially compensate impairments of the optical fiber link. The predetermined shaping function is designed to modify a baseband spectrum of the target optical E-field envelope. | 08-06-2015 |
20150207668 | G.8032 ETHERNET MULTIPLE FAULT RECOVERY MECHANISMS - A method, network element, and network provide detecting a failure on both ports of a major ring at a network element that has an interconnecting sub-ring terminating thereon; causing a block at an associated sub-ring termination port of the interconnecting sub-ring responsive to the failure on both the ports of the major ring; and monitoring the failure and clearing the block responsive to a recovery of one or both ports from the failure. The method, network, and network element include G.8032 multiple concurrent or simultaneous fault recovery mechanisms that traffic being transported between an interconnected major ring and a sub-ring to be successfully delivered in the event of dual concurrent faults on the major ring. | 07-23-2015 |
20150195178 | METHOD FOR RESOURCE OPTIMIZED NETWORK VIRTUALIZATION OVERLAY TRANSPORT IN VIRTUALIZED DATA CENTER ENVIRONMENTS - A method for resource optimized network virtualization overlay transport in a virtualized data center environment includes an optimized virtualized transport mechanism based on MPLS-TP tunneling technology. The transport mechanism may include a usage monitoring and resource usage advertisement mechanism based on IGP-TE protocol extension. Also, the transport mechanism may include a path computation engine (PCE) based optimal path computation for a virtualized transport tunnel used to carry VM-to-VM traffic across the virtualized data center. Additionally, the transport mechanism may include a SDN controller for provisioning and control of virtualized machines and a virtualized transport system. | 07-09-2015 |
20150195045 | OPTICAL MODULATION SCHEMES HAVING REDUCED NONLINEAR OPTICAL TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS - A method of transmitting a data signal using an optical transmitter of an optical communications system. The optical transmitter is configured to modulate an optical carrier in successive signalling intervals to generate an optical signal. A modulation scheme is provided which comprises a multi-dimensional symbol constellation. The modulation scheme is designed such that an average degree of polarization of a modulated optical signal output from the optical transmitter has a first value when averaged across a first signalling interval, and has a second value when averaged across more than one and fewer than 100 signalling intervals. The second value is less than 10 percent of the first value. During run-time, an encoder of the optical transmitter encoding a data signal to be transmitted as symbols of the constellation, and a modulator of the optical transmitter modulating available dimensions of the optical carrier in accordance with the symbols. | 07-09-2015 |
20150186206 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR INTELLIGENT DISTRIBUTED HEALTH MONITORING IN SWITCHING SYSTEM EQUIPMENT - A method for distributed health monitoring and fault repairing in a switching system. The switching system having one or more supervisory cards, one or more line cards, and one or more switch fabric cards. The method includes transmitting a health status poll request message to the one or more line cards and the one or more switch fabric cards. Thereafter, the method includes receiving health status poll response messages from each of the one or more line cards and the one or more switch fabric cards. Each health status poll response message includes health status summary of the corresponding card. Further, the method involves detecting one or more faults in the switching system based on the health poll response messages. Finally, the method includes triggering at least one action on the detection of the faults in the switching system. These actions are triggered based on a set of predefined rules. | 07-02-2015 |
20150139223 | HIGH DENSITY NETWORKING SHELF AND SYSTEM - A system, a shelf, and a high density platform optimize physical arrangement of cards to maximize cooling effectiveness and line card pitch while minimizing backplane trace lengths between line interface and switch fabric cards. The shelf and system and associated card arrangement supports scaling to a larger, double size system that maintains the required length of backplane traces for card communications without compromising card cooling. Advantageously, the shelf and system maintains full NEBS compliance through an arrangement supporting full air intake/outtake through a front and/or back of the shelf or system, i.e. no side ventilation, and includes a false front to ensure all cards (switch fabric and line interface cards) are substantially flush with one another. | 05-21-2015 |
20150127805 | DYNAMIC BANDWIDTH ALLOCATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS USING CONTENT IDENTIFICATION IN A SOFTWARE-DEFINED NETWORKING CONTROLLED MULTI-LAYER NETWORK - A method, a Software-Defined Networking (SDN) controller, and a network include operation of a multi-layer SDN network and uniquely identifying streaming content on higher layers relative to the multi-layer SDN network through deep packet inspection; associating the streaming content to a multi-layer service on the SDN network; and monitoring the streaming content on the SDN network over the multi-layer service. This can include dynamically adjusting bandwidth of the multi-layer service utilizing OpenFlow on the SDN network based on the monitoring. The deep packet inspection can utilize a Bloom filter embedded in a resource identifier of the streaming content by the content provider, wherein the embedded Bloom filter is transparent to content players and does not require changes to storage on associated web servers for the streaming content. | 05-07-2015 |
20150125112 | OPTICAL SWITCH FABRIC FOR DATA CENTER INTERCONNECTIONS - An optical switch fabric includes horizontal optical waveguides including a first set and a second set, the first set is configured to receive a first plurality of wavelengths from the one or more external switches and the second set is configured to send a second plurality of wavelengths to the one or more external switches; wavelength-selective drop optical switches associated with the first set, wherein the wavelength-selective drop optical switches are each configured to drop a selected wavelength from a horizontal optical waveguide of the first set to an associated vertical optical waveguide of vertical optical waveguides; and controllable optical switches associated with the vertical optical waveguides, wherein the controllable optical switches are each configured to direct a selected wavelength from a vertical optical waveguide to a horizontal optical waveguide of the second set. | 05-07-2015 |
20150120927 | NETWORK BASED ONSITE SUPPORT - Systems and methods for providing onsite support to technicians of a network include a hardware means for automatically detecting the presence of an onsite technician at the network node, and providing support to the onsite technician through a communications channel provided by the network node. The communications channel can be an optical service channel or a general communication channel (GCC) configured according to G.709 standard, for example. The hardware means can be further configured to determine an identity of the onsite technician and/or authenticate the onsite technician. The hardware means may comprise a dongle communicatively coupled to a network element or shelf at the network node via a universal serial bus (USB) port or Bluetooth connection. | 04-30-2015 |
20150117858 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CAPACITY CHANGES IN DWDM NETWORKS INCLUDING FLEXIBLE SPECTRUM SYSTEMS - A method, a controller, and an optical section include performing an analysis to determine an amount of power offset on any in-service channels in an optical section due to a capacity change with a channel; defining a step size to ensure the capacity change does not exceed an offset limit based on the analysis; performing the capacity change in one or more iterations using the step size to limit the capacity change; and performing an optimization between each of the one or more iterations to adjust amplifier gains in the optical section to compensate for offsets on the in-service channels caused by a previous iteration. | 04-30-2015 |
20150117850 | OPTIMIZATION OF PHOTONIC SERVICES WITH COLORLESS AND DIRECTIONLESS ARCHITECTURE - A method, in a node operating in a network with a control plane, to optimize wavelength retuning on service redials, includes detecting a failure on a link associated with the node; and, for each affected connections on the link, sending a respective release message to an associated originating node via the control plane, the release message including a protect path and a wavelength, wherein the release message is utilized by the associated originating node to redial the affected connections with the protect path and the wavelength determined by the node, to minimize wavelength retuning on the affected connections. | 04-30-2015 |
20150113151 | SOFTWARE DEFINED NETWORKING SYSTEMS AND METHODS VIA A PATH COMPUTATION AND CONTROL ELEMENT - Software Defined Networking systems and methods are described via a Path Computation and Control Element (PCCE) that is based in part on a Path Computation Element (PCE). A common, simple interface is designed based on an existing PCE interface that allows a centralized entity (i.e., a Path Computation and Control Element or PCCE) to control the initiation of new connections or tunnels and by default to manage the state of these connections or tunnels once established. In particular, the systems and methods create an extension to the PCE architecture to allow a centralized application or applications to control the creation, rerouting and deletion of connections within a network. | 04-23-2015 |
20150113142 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVISIONING A VIRTUAL MACHINE (virtual machine) FROM A NETWORK SERVICE PROVIDER - A method and apparatus facilitates an enterprise to lease virtual appliances from network services provider. The method operates by deploying a converged networking and computing device at a service location, downloading a virtual machine to the converged networking and computing device, activating the virtual machine by a service in the wide area network, and connecting the virtual machine to a provisioned network path over the wide area network. Different virtual machines can be deployed to different locations. The same virtual machine can be deployed to different locations. Moreover, more than one virtual machine may be deployed to more than one service location. | 04-23-2015 |
20150103691 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MULTI-INSTANCE CONTROL PLANE FOR DYNAMIC MPLS-TP TUNNEL MANAGEMENT VIA IN-BAND COMMUNICATION CHANNEL (G-ACH) - A dynamic tunnel management and signaling control plane protocol message is encapsulated in a data plane protocol encapsulating packet and communicated through a data plane channel to a destination label switching node. The destination label switching node extracts information from the dynamic tunnel management and signaling control plane protocol message from the data plane protocol encapsulating packet in the data plane, and performs a dynamic tunnel management process based on the extracted information. Optionally, the data plane channel is a generic associated channel (G-ACH). | 04-16-2015 |
20150098356 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING END-TO-END CONSISTENCY OF BI-DIRECTIONAL MPLS-TP TUNNELS VIA IN-BAND COMMUNICATION CHANNEL (G-ACH) PROTOCOL - A source node encapsulates, in a data plane protocol packet, a forward tunnel control message according to a control plane protocol and having an Extended Association Object, and forwards the data plane protocol packet from a source node to a destination node, through a data plane channel. The destination node extracts the Extended Association Object from the data plane protocol packet. Based, at least in part, on the extracted Extended Association Object, the destination node provisions a reverse tunnel from the destination node to the source node, and binds the forward tunnel to the reverse tunnel. | 04-09-2015 |
20150098338 | ENERGY EFFICIENT AND ENERGY-MANAGED TRAFFIC ENGINEERING SERVICES IN MULTIPROTOCOL LABEL SWITCHING AND GENERALIZED MULTIPROTOCOL LABEL SWITCHING NETWORKS - Provided are methods and apparatus for mitigating traffic loss by using advanced traffic engineering services in a multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network and/or a generalized multiprotocol label switching (GMPLS) network. Provided is an exemplary method that includes measuring, at a network element, energy utilization of at least one of a line card and a switch fabric card that are configured to carry a traffic engineering (TE) capable link, as well as converting the energy utilization measurement to a normalized energy consumption indicator for the at least one of the line card and the switch fabric card. Further, based on the normalized energy consumption indicator, a route of a label switched path in the MPLS network is optimized so the route avoids the at least one of the line card and the switch fabric card. The provided methods and apparatus advantageously improve throughput, reliability, and availability of MPLS and GMPLS services. | 04-09-2015 |
20150086202 | ENHANCED ROUTING AND WAVELENGTH ASSIGNMENT TECHNIQUES FOR REDUCING WAVELENGTH CONTINUITY BLOCKING - Embodiments of the disclosure are directed to optimizing routing and wavelength assignment in a network. An embodiment determines a routing assignment for a network, wherein the routing assignment is determined using a decongestion cost-based function; and determines a wavelength assignment for the network based on vector difference. The determination of the wavelength assignment comprises spanning the network for a path; calculating a weighted correlation function for at least one length in the network; storing the weighted correlation; and determining if a next path exists. If a next path is found, spanning for a next path in the network, and if a next path is not found, returning the stored correlation. | 03-26-2015 |
20150076923 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MEMS-BASED CROSS-POINT ELECTRICAL SWITCHING - A Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-based N×M cross-point switch, a MEMS-based system, and a method provide MEMS-based cross-point electrical switching for a Layer 0 flow-based switch. The N×M cross-point switch includes N inputs each at least 10 Gbps, M output each at least 10 Gbps, a plurality of Radio Frequency (RF) MEMS switches selectively interconnecting the N inputs to the M outputs; and control and addressing circuitry to selectively control the plurality of RF MEMS switches to switch each of the N inputs to a corresponding output of the M outputs. The systems and methods provide an electrical switching fabric for flow-based switching of wavelengths that can be part of a Reconfigurable Electrical Add/Drop Multiplexer (READM) with similar functionality as a ROADM in the electronic domain. | 03-19-2015 |
20150075957 | HIGH VOLTAGE CONTROL WITH DIGITAL MEMS LOGIC - A complex logic gate comprising digital MEM switches, coupled to a high voltage MEMS buffer, to provide a high voltage depending upon gate and body voltages of the digital MEM switches. | 03-19-2015 |
20150071652 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR REDUCED COMPLEXITY NONLINEAR COMPENSATION - Aspects of the present invention provide techniques for compensating nonlinear impairments of a signal traversing an optical communications system. A parallel array of linear convolutional filters are configured to process a selected set of samples of the signal to generate an estimate of a nonlinear interference field. The predetermined set of samples comprises a first sample and a plurality of second samples. A processor applies the estimated nonlinear interference field to the first sample to least partially compensate the nonlinear impairment. | 03-12-2015 |
20150063800 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MONETIZING A CARRIER NETWORK - Methods and apparatus for monetizing a carrier network are provided. In an example, a wavelength service is captured from deployed network assets in a carrier network. A revenue factor (R), a capital expenditure factor (C), an operational expenditure factor (O), and a service level agreement factor (S) are selected from an analytic profile of the carrier network based on the wavelength service requirements. The R, C, O, and S factors are hexadecimal numbers, and can be weighted relative to each other. An index is calculated by concatenating the R, C, O, and S factors a prioritized order and converting the resultant hexadecimal number into a decimal number. The calculated index is assigned to the wavelength service. The index can be displayed, along with indices for other wavelengths on other paths, to a user in a graphical form. | 03-05-2015 |
20150052399 | CORRELATION OF PERFORMANCE MONITORING RECORDS FOR LOGICAL END POINTS WITHIN A PROTECTED GROUP - A network system comprising logical work and protect Connection Termination Points. Performance Monitoring (PM) records are provided by generating for each work Connection Termination Point (CTP) a work bit vector and a protect bit vector. The work bit vector keeps track of severely errored seconds (SES) occurrences at the work CTP only when the work CTP is selected. The protect bit vector keeps track of severely errored seconds (SES) occurrences at the protect CTP only when the protect CTP is selected. Processing the work bit vector and the protect bit vector provides accurate PM records. | 02-19-2015 |
20150043553 | CONFIGURING A SECURE NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE DEVICE - In an embodiment, a user equipment (UE), establishes a local connection (e.g., USB, Bluetooth, etc.) to a network infrastructure device (e.g., a network switch or router) that is not yet configured for operation on a communications network. The UE obtains, while connected to the network infrastructure device over the local connection, device-identifying information (e.g., a location of the UE, a pre-provisioned identifier for the network infrastructure device, etc.) by which the network infrastructure device can be distinguished from other network infrastructure devices of the same type. The UE loads a configuration installation file that is specially configured for the network infrastructure device based on the obtained device-identifying information. The UE executes the configuration installation file over the local connection to configure the network infrastructure device for operation on the communications network. | 02-12-2015 |
20150033092 | CHAIN ENCODING AND DECODING OF HIGH SPEED SIGNALS - A method of recovering a value of a symbol received through an optical communications system. A multi-bit estimate of the symbol is subdivided into a first part and a second part, each part including at least one respective bit of the estimate. A most likely value of the first part is detected. The most likely value of the first part is processed using a Forward Error Correction (FEC) decoder to generate a corrected first part value, which is used to detect a most likely value of the second part. The most likely value of the second part is then processed by the FEC decoder to generate a corrected second part, which is combined with the corrected first part to recover the value of the symbol. | 01-29-2015 |
20150030337 | HIGH-SPEED OPTICAL TRANSCEIVER FOR INFINIBAND AND ETHERNET - The present invention provides a high-speed 100 G optical transceiver for InfiniBand and Ethernet with associated mapping to frame InfiniBand and Ethernet into GFP-T. The optical transceiver utilizes an architecture which relies on standards-compliant (i.e., multi-sourced) physical client interfaces. These client interfaces are back-ended with flexible, programmable Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) modules to accomplish either InfiniBand or Ethernet protocol control, processing, reframing, and the like. Next, signals are encoded with Forward Error Correction (FEC) and can include additional Optical Transport Unit (OTU) compliant framing structures. The resulting data is processed appropriately for the subsequent optical re-transmission, such as, for example, with differential encoding, Gray encoding, I/Q Quadrature encoding, and the like. The data is sent to an optical transmitter block and modulated onto an optical carrier. Also, the same process proceeds in reverse on the receive side. | 01-29-2015 |
20150023368 | PROTECTING HYBRID EQUIPMENT IN A NETWORK NODE - The disclosure generally relates to mechanisms to protect hybrid networking equipment at a port level granularity and thereby provide capabilities to specify the protection of client services on a port-by-port basis. For example, in one embodiment, a Virtual Connection Point (VCP) may be established as a termination point for a transport-side network connection and configured as a Layer 1 bridge/select connection to switch among any one of a plurality of backplane Layer 1 termination points. The plurality of backplane Layer 1 termination points may be protected using a link aggregation group, wherein a Layer 2 switch may be established to direct packets between the link aggregation group and the VCP configured as the Layer 1 bridge/select connection. | 01-22-2015 |
20140376917 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR THE COMPENSATION OF NONLINEAR CROSS POLARIZATION AND CROSS PHASE MODULATION IN DUAL POLARIZATION COHERENT CHANNELS - The present disclosure provides systems and methods for the compensation of signal distortion in fiber optic communication systems and the like. More specifically, the present disclosure provides an orthogonal polarization detection and broadband pilot (OPDBP) technique for the compensation of nonlinear cross polarization (i.e. nonlinear cross polarization modulation) (XPolM) induced noise and nonlinear nonlinear cross phase modulation (XPM) induced noise in a high data rate polarization multiplexed (PM) multilevel-quadrature amplitude modulated (M-QAM) channel due to neighboring channels. This approach allows for the compensation of both XPolM and XPM simultaneously, providing several dBs of optical reach extension. The approach uses a pilot tone based orthogonal polarization detection scheme with broadband (i.e. a few GHz wide) filtering of the pilot tones. | 12-25-2014 |
20140369686 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR NOISE TOLERANT SIGNAL PROCESSING IN PILOT ASSISTED DATA RECEIVERS - The present disclosure provides systems and methods for noise tolerant signal processing in a pilot assisted data receiver, including: given received pilots with common pilot components and individual pilot components, computing coefficients associated with the individual pilot components of the received pilots; and applying the computed coefficients to the received pilots to obtain conditioned pilots. The individual pilot components result from relatively slow changes of the received pilots relative to the common pilot components. The common pilot components result from relatively fast changes of the received pilots relative to the individual pilot components. | 12-18-2014 |
20140369680 | VARIABLE SPECTRAL EFFICIENCY OPTICAL MODULATION SCHEMES - A method of transmitting a data signal using an optical transmitter of an optical communications system. A first encoder processes an N-bit input vector in accordance with a first mapping to generate a corresponding M-bit data stream. A Forward Error Correction encoder processes the M-bit data stream in accordance with a predetermined FEC encoding scheme to generate an encoded signal. A constellation mapper maps the encoded signal to symbol values in accordance with a predetermined modulation scheme to generate a corresponding symbol stream. A modulator modulates a carrier light in accordance with the encoded symbol stream to generate an optical signal for transmission through the optical communications system. The first mapping can be adjusted to maximize performance of the optical communications system. | 12-18-2014 |
20140348504 | DIRECTIONLESS OPTICAL ARCHITECTURE AND HIGHLY AVAILABLE NETWORK AND PHOTONIC RESILIENCE METHODS - A directionless optical architecture is described for reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (ROADMs) and wavelength selective switches (WSSs). The directionless architecture utilizes a directionless wavelength switch coupled between client devices and ROADMs/WSSs to eliminate the need to hard-wire client devices to a wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) network. Accordingly, client device connections can be automatically routed without manual intervention to provide a highly resilient network design which can recover route diversity during failure scenarios. Additionally, the present invention minimizes deployments of costly optical transceivers while providing superior resiliency. Further, the present invention couples the directionless optical architecture and associated optical protection mechanisms with existing mesh restoration schemes to provide additional resiliency. | 11-27-2014 |
20140341595 | DIGITAL NOISE LOADING FOR OPTICAL RECEIVERS - Managing performance of an optical communications network may be facilitated by digital noise loading techniques. The digital noise loading techniques may include measuring a quality of a communication signal received at a coherent optical receiver, applying digital noise to the communication signal at the coherent optical receiver, and detecting a change in the quality of the communication signal at the coherent optical receiver in response to the application of the digital noise. Based on the change in the quality of the communication signal, an operating characteristic and/or a performance margin of the coherent optical receiver may be determined, prompting or facilitating further actions such as adjusting one or more operating parameters of the optical communications network and/or triggering an alert. | 11-20-2014 |
20140341012 | RESILIENT DUAL-HOMED DATA NETWORK HAND-OFF - Systems and methods for L2 Ethernet resilient hand-off include an access network configured between a first end point and a second end point, a first communication path and a second communication path for data flow between the first end point and the second end point, wherein the first communication path is active and the second communication path is inactive, and if a fault is detected in the first communication path, logic configured to activate the second communication path and perform a resilient hand-off of the data flow from the first communication path to the second communication path. | 11-20-2014 |
20140328583 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR OPTICAL DARK SECTION CONDITIONING - Embodiments of the disclosure are directed to optical dark section conditioning. An embodiment generates at least one of a broadband noise or signal at the head end of a section for a first module of the section; and operates all other modules of the section in gain control mode. | 11-06-2014 |
20140325816 | OPTICAL INTERFACE INSERTION AND EXTRACTION TOOL - A tool for insertion and extraction of optical fibers includes an elongated handle, a generally C-shaped cradle element at a first end of the elongated handle, a generally L-shaped hook element at a second end of the elongated handle having a long section connected to the elongated handle parallel to a longitudinal axis of the elongated handle and a short section perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the elongated handle, and a generally U-shaped notch formed in the second end of the elongated handle. The tool is configured to facilitate the remote insertion and removal of an optical cable into an optical port of a device, such as a networking or telecommunications device. Various embodiments allow for the remote disengagement and removal of an SFP module from a device, such as a networking or telecommunications device. | 11-06-2014 |
20140325040 | NETWORK-BASED DHCP SERVER RECOVERY - To recover existing IP configuration information directly from an existing network in response to DHCP server failure, unique identifiers corresponding to hosts that a DHCP server provisioned with IP configuration information may be stored on the network in non-volatile memory such that current configuration information associated with the hosts may be obtained from the network in response to the DHCP server failure. For example, in a standalone deployment, messages may be sent to each host, which may respond with the current configuration information. In other scenarios, a summary node may provide summarized configuration information and messages may only be sent to hosts not included among the summarized configuration information, or configuration information may be synchronized among redundant DHCP servers such that messages may be sent to certain hosts based on differences between the configuration information on a mate DHCP server and a DHCP server recovering from failure. | 10-30-2014 |
20140321260 | OPTIMIZING FAULT SYNCHRONIZATION IN A BIDIRECTIONAL DATA NETWORK - Methods and apparatus for optimizing fault synchronization in a bidirectional data network are provided. In an example, a downstream endpoint of the data network receives a first Alarm Indication Signal (AIS). The first AIS indicates a first FLI of an upstream interface having an interface fault. The downstream endpoint transmits, to an upstream endpoint of the data network, a second AIS including a Remote Defect Indication (RDI) and a second FLI identifying the downstream endpoint. An upstream endpoint of the data network receives the second AIS and determines that the AIS is an AIS-RDI (AIS-RDI) from the presence of the second FLI. The presence of the AIS-RDI triggers the upstream endpoint to initiate tunnel failure synchronization with the downstream endpoint. | 10-30-2014 |
20140317248 | NETWORK TECHNOLOGY INTERWORKING VIA USER PROGRAMMABLE EVENT-ACTION PROFILES - The disclosure is directed to configuring an internetworking of a first network and a second network. Data representing one or more network events is received at a network element, data representing one or more actions to be performed by the second network in response to detection of the one or more events on the first network is received at the network element, and a mapping of the one or more network events to the one or more actions is stored by the network element. | 10-23-2014 |
20140314402 | PREVENTING INVALID DEFECT DETECTION DURING OTN OUT-OF-FRAME STATES - Methods and systems can suppress invalid defect detection when Out-Of-Frame (OOF) conditions occur within an Optical Transport Network. One method for processing a report of a defect during an OOF condition may include detecting the OOF condition at a downstream node, detecting an indication of the defect caused by the OOF condition, suppressing a report associated with the indication of the defect, determining whether the OOF condition is clear, determining whether the indication of the defect is still present if the OOF condition is clear; and cancelling the report if the indication of the defect is not present. A network node which processes a report of a defect during an OOF condition may include a network interface, and a processor which is coupled to the network interface. The processor may be configured to perform a method for suppressing invalid defect detection during OOF conditions. | 10-23-2014 |
20140314078 | FORWARDING MULTICAST PACKETS OVER DIFFERENT LAYER-2 SEGMENTS - Embodiments of the disclosure are directed to forwarding multicast packets among disparate Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs). An embodiment receives a multicast packet matching registration criteria of one or more ports and forwards the multicast packet to the one or more ports, wherein the one or more ports are in a different VLAN than a port from which the multicast packet was received. | 10-23-2014 |
20140312931 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR STATIONARY FINITE IMPULSE RESPONSE FILTERS IN PROGRAMMABLE MICROELECTRONIC CIRCUITS - A Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) to implement channel equalization to mitigate group velocity dispersion in an optical system. In one embodiment, a mapping is loaded into the FPGA whereby the in-phase and quadrature components of the baseband sequence to be filtered are routed to accumulators to form various sums, where each sum is multiplied by a corresponding distinct filter tap coefficient value according to the mapping to form various products, and where the products are summed to provide the in-phase and quadrature components of the filtered output. | 10-23-2014 |
20140308047 | OPTIMUM MODULATOR BIAS SYSTEMS AND METHODS IN COHERENT OPTICAL TRANSMITTERS - A modulator bias selection method, a coherent optical transmitter, and optical modulator solve the problem of generating a correct constellation using the bias points with the minimum phase adjustment range. The optimum modulator bias systems and methods include a coherent optical transmitter with control of four (XI, XQ, YI, YQ) quadrature data signals via a transmitter (Tx) application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), with a modulator bias controller which implements an algorithm to find the optimum bias points. The optimum bias points yield a correct constellation with minimum phase/bias adjustment. An algorithm is used to find the optimum bias solution using fast, simple method, adjusting only one quadrature at a time and exploiting a control feature of the Tx ASIC. This algorithm is significantly simpler than a generalized search, is a local algorithm, and uses only DC power measurement at the transmitter. | 10-16-2014 |
20140247829 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SYNCHRONIZING FORWARDING DATABASES ACROSS MULTIPLE INTERCONNECTED LAYER-2 SWITCHES - A method and a multi-switch architecture include learning a media access control (MAC) address at a first switch in a multi-switch architecture; storing the MAC address in a forwarding database of the first switch; transmitting a data frame to one or more switches in the multi-switch architecture via inter-switch connectivity between the first switch and the one or more switches, wherein the data frame is created to enable the one or more switches to learn the MAC address therefrom; learning the MAC address from the data frame at the one or more switches; and storing the MAC address in a forwarding database for each of the one or more switches. This further includes transmitting the data frame via ports and queues in the inter-switch connectivity that are separate from ports and queues in a data path between the first switch and the one or more switches to avoid data path interference. | 09-04-2014 |
20140212149 | SOFT DECODING OF DATA IN A COHERENT OPTICAL RECEIVER - In a coherent optical receiver receiving a polarization multiplexed optical signal through an optical communications network, a method of compensating noise due to polarization dependent loss (PDL). A Least Mean Squares (LMS) compensation block processes sample streams of the received optical signal to generate symbol estimates of symbols modulated onto each transmitted polarization of the optical signal. A decorrelation block de-correlates noise in the respective symbol estimates of each transmitted polarization and generating a set of decorrelated coordinate signals. A maximum likelihood estimator soft decodes the de-correlated coordinate signals generated by the decorrelation block. | 07-31-2014 |
20140205278 | CALL SETUP SYSTEMS AND METHODS USING DYNAMIC LINK TAGGING AND OVERBOOKING OF LINKS IN MULTI-DOMAIN TRANSPORT NETWORKS - Call setup methods in a multi-domain network and a multi-domain network use dynamic link tagging and/or overbooking of External Network-Network Interface (ENNI) links. Thus, improved call setup systems and methods include two approaches to improve upon the responsiveness of the network for connection setups including bandwidth reservation in optical networks using “dynamic link tags” and link overbooking in optical networks based on a greedy approach. The bandwidth reservation and the link overbooking can be utilized together or separately to improve call setup. Advantageously, the improved call setup systems and methods can provide a generic bandwidth reservation mechanism, such as in Automatically Switched Optical Network (ASON) networks, to overcome the limitation of ENNI in concurrently updating the abstract link bandwidth and thereby improving the responsiveness of the network. | 07-24-2014 |
20140161469 | HIGH SPEED SIGNAL GENERATOR - A high-speed signal generator. A digital signal processing (DSP) block generates a set of N (where N is an integer and N≧2) parallel digital sub-band signals, each digital sub-band signal having frequency components within a spectral range between 0 Hz and ±Fs/2, where Fs is a sample rate of the digital sub-band signals. A respective Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) processes each digital sub-band signal to generate a corresponding analog sub-band signal, each DAC having a sample rate of Fs/2. A combiner combines the analog sub-band signals to generate an output analog signal having frequency components within a spectral range between 0 Hz and ±NFs/2. | 06-12-2014 |
20140133865 | OPTICAL MODULATION SCHEMES HAVING REDUCED NONLINEAR OPTICAL TRANSMISSION IMPAIRMENTS - A method of transmitting a data signal using an optical transmitter of an optical communications system. The optical transmitter is configured to modulate an optical carrier in successive signalling intervals to generate an optical signal. A modulation scheme is provided which comprises a multi-dimensional symbol constellation. The modulation scheme is designed such that an average degree of polarization of a modulated optical signal output from the optical transmitter has a first value when averaged across a first signalling interval, and has a second value when averaged across more than one and fewer than 100 signalling intervals. The second value is less than 10 percent of the first value. During run-time, an encoder of the optical transmitter encoding a data signal to be transmitted as symbols of the constellation, and a modulator of the optical transmitter modulating available dimensions of the optical carrier in accordance with the symbols. | 05-15-2014 |
20140133289 | ETHERNET FAULT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Ethernet fault management systems and methods using programmable Type-Length-Value (TLV) offsets combine software-based Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM) protocol support with hardware-based fault management support to delegate generation and processing of OAM protocol messages to hardware devices with the software-based protocol support used to program hardware based on fixed offsets in the OAM protocol messages. The hardware can be designed to be flexible since the hardware can be agnostic to the logic within the OAM protocol which would reside in the software. The Ethernet fault management systems and methods combine the flexibility of software-based approaches with the speed and efficiency of hardware-based approaches. | 05-15-2014 |
20140126912 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INTERCONNECTION DISCOVERY IN OPTICAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS - Systems and methods for automatic interconnection discovery in an optical communication system, including: a fiber optic waveguide connecting a first port to a second port, wherein the fiber optic waveguide carries a primary optical signal; and transmitting a secondary acoustic signal over the fiber optic waveguide, wherein the secondary acoustic signal is encoded with information related to one or more of the first port and the second port and/or the interconnection there between. The secondary acoustic signal is transmitted one of continuously, synchronously intermittently, and asynchronously intermittently, and does not interfere with the primary optical signal. | 05-08-2014 |
20140126422 | RESILIENT INTERWORKING OF SHORTEST PATH BRIDGING AND ETHERNET VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORKS - An Ethernet network, an Ethernet method, and an Ethernet node provide active-active dual-homed interworking between two Ethernet networks. The network, method, and node can include two nodes interconnected each to a Shortest Path Bridging (SPB) network and an Ethernet Virtual Private Network (E-VPN). The two nodes can utilize a same Ethernet Segment Identifier (ESI) for the E-VPN network to cause the dual-homed links to appear as a single link from an E-VPN perspective and a dummy node to advertise an extra node in the SPB network enabling two paths therein. | 05-08-2014 |
20140119239 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONSTRAINED FORWARDING BASED PACKET NETWORK CONNECTIVITY - An Ethernet Tree (E-Tree) service is described instantiated on an Ethernet switch and in an Ethernet network. The E-Tree service is implemented using Private Forwarding Groups (PFGs), asymmetric Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs), virtual switches, and port configurations. The use of PFGs in addition to asymmetric VLANs provides higher levels of security in the described E-Tree systems and methods. The E-Tree systems and methods also can utilize Access Control Lists (ACLs) at Network-Network Interfaces (NNIs) for controlling unknown unicasts from reaching wrong ports. The E-Tree systems and methods can also seamlessly interoperate with packet switches using an IEEE 802.1Q-2011 approach. | 05-01-2014 |
20140117774 | POWER FEED ENTRY CIRCUIT FOR TELECOMMUNICATION APPLICATIONS - A power feed entry circuit, a module with the power feed entry circuit, and a daughter board with the power feed entry circuit include a first circuit coupled to inputs and outputs, wherein the first circuit is configured for power connections, return isolation relays, diode Or-ing, and output status-indication light-emitting diodes (LEDs); a second circuit coupled to the first circuit, the inputs, and the outputs, wherein the second circuit is configured with a hot swappable controller and provides common-mode and differential mode power line filtering; a third circuit coupled to the first circuit, wherein the third circuit is configured for alarm monitoring of the first circuit and the second circuit; and a fourth circuit coupled to the first circuit and the third circuit, wherein the fourth circuit comprises a dual feed high and low active field effect transistor Or-ing circuit. | 05-01-2014 |
20140112660 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CHANNEL ADDITIONS OVER MULTIPLE CASCADED OPTICAL NODES - A method, an optical node, and an optical network include a power controller configured to bring channels in-service in parallel over multiple cascaded optical nodes quickly, efficiently, and in a non-service affecting manner. The method, node, and network utilize multiple states of a control loop that maintains a stable response in downstream optical nodes as channels are added in parallel. Further, the power controller is configured to operate independently alleviating dependencies on other power controllers and removing the need for coordination between power controllers. The method, node, and network provide efficient turn up of dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) services which is critical to optical layer functionality including optical layer restoration. | 04-24-2014 |
20140104679 | RAMAN AMPLIFIER GAIN COMPRESSION SYSTEMS AND METHODS BASED ON SIGNAL POWER MONITORING - Raman amplifier gain compression systems and methods based on signal power monitoring are described which estimate distributed Raman amplifier saturation based on a total power measurement at an output of a distributed Raman amplifier and correct for any changes by adjusting the pump power. Since the power measurement, gain estimation, and the pump control and done locally at the Raman amplifier, the duration of any transients is minimized. The systems and methods quickly detect transients on a fiber link using a power monitor in the Raman amplifier, estimate the change in gain due to change in input power from distributed Raman gain, and perform a feedback loop that corrects pump power to eliminate the change in Raman gain locally. | 04-17-2014 |
20140098710 | SOFTWARE DEFINED NETWORKING SYSTEMS AND METHODS VIA A PATH COMPUTATION AND CONTROL ELEMENT - Software Defined Networking systems and methods are described via a Path Computation and Control Element (PCCE) that is based in part on a Path Computation Element (PCE). A common, simple interface is designed based on an existing PCE interface that allows a centralized entity (i.e., a Path Computation and Control Element or PCCE) to control the initiation of new connections or tunnels and by default to manage the state of these connections or tunnels once established. In particular, the systems and methods create an extension to the PCE architecture to allow a centralized application or applications to control the creation, rerouting and deletion of connections within a network. | 04-10-2014 |
20140098677 | NETWORK SPARES AUDIT OPTIMIZATION AND MAINTENANCE SYSTEMS AND METHODS - A network spares audit, optimization, and maintenance system and method, including: an application running on a processor of one of (1) a network management system of a network and (2) a logistics management tool external to the network and in communication with the network management system of the network, the application including: a mapping algorithm executed by the application and operable for mapping network elements of one or more networks to spares depots; and a probabilistic risk analysis algorithm executed by the application and operable for utilizing statistical analysis to determine how many and what types of spares are stocked at each spares depot based on inputted conditions; wherein operation and output of the application is dynamically updated based on network configuration information automatically received from the network management system of the network. | 04-10-2014 |
20140095743 | CIRCUIT SYSTEMS AND METHODS USING PRIME NUMBER INTERLEAVE OPTIMIZATION FOR BYTE LANE TO TIME SLICE CONVERSION - Circuit systems and methods use prime number interleave optimization for byte lane to time slice conversion of incoming data streams. Generally, the systems and methods buffer data for at least a number of samples equal to the number of byte lanes. Then the samples are transferred to a bank of buffers whose width is the smallest prime number greater than or equal to the number of byte lanes, N. Thus, the systems and methods utilize P minus N phantom lanes. As data is transferred, the data is circularly interleaved (position * N modulo P) so that all data which will be needed at the same time wind up in different readable devices, i.e. the buffers. By appropriate addressing, the data in the different readable devices may then be read in the form of time slices. The process can be reversed for time slice to byte lane conversion. | 04-03-2014 |
20140093235 | OPTICAL TRANSPORT NETWORK HIGH ORDER MAPPING SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Optical Transport Network (OTN) High Order (HO) mapping systems and methods utilize pointer processing to map one HO signal into another similarly sized HO signal. An OTN HO mapping method and circuit include receiving a first HO signal at a first rate, asynchronously mapping the first HO signal into a second HO signal at a second rate, wherein the first rate and the second rate are substantially similar, translating a portion of overhead from the first HO signal to overhead of the second HO signal, utilizing pointers in the overhead of the second HO signal for frame alignment of the first HO signal, and transmitting the second HO signal containing the first HO signal. | 04-03-2014 |
20140077971 | RAMAN AMPLIFIER SYSTEM AND METHOD WITH INTEGRATED OPTICAL TIME DOMAIN REFLECTOMETER - Raman amplifier systems and methods with an integrated Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) for integrated testing functionality include an amplifier system, an OTDR and telemetry subsystem, and a method of operation. The OTDR and telemetry subsystem is configured to operate in an OTDR mode when coupled to a line in port and to operate in a telemetry mode when coupled to a line out port. The OTDR and telemetry subsystem enables on-demand fiber testing while also operating as a telemetry channel that is both a redundant optical service channel (OSC) and provides a mechanism to monitor Raman gain over time. The OTDR and telemetry subsystem minimizes cost and space by sharing major optical and electrical components between the integrated OTDR and other functions on the Raman amplifier. | 03-20-2014 |
20140072306 | OPTICAL SERVICE CHANNEL SYSTEMS AND METHODS OVER HIGH LOSS LINKS - Optical service channel (OSC) systems and methods over high loss links are described utilizing redundant telemetry channels. A first telemetry channel provides a low bandwidth communication channel used when Raman amplification is unavailable on a high loss link for supporting a subset of operations, administration, maintenance, and provisioning (OAM&P) communication. A second telemetry channel provides a high bandwidth communication channel for when Raman amplification is available to support full OAM&P communication. The first and second telemetry operate cooperatively ensuring nodal OAM&P communication over high loss links (e.g., 50 dB) regardless of operational status of Raman amplification. | 03-13-2014 |
20140071825 | LOAD BALANCING SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF MAC LEARNING IN MULTI-SLOT ARCHITECTURES - Line cards in a multi-slot network element utilize load balancing systems and methods for synchronizing learned Media Access Control (MAC) addresses therebetween. It is an objective of the load balancing systems and methods to enable high data rate scalability between line cards in a distributed system while preventing adverse effects on packet traffic. The load balancing systems and methods include inter alia MAC address updates between data path devices (e.g., network processors, application specific integrated circuits, etc.) using data frames and a hash-based time slot strategy ensuring MAC address updates are distributed over time as opposed to large scale, singular events. | 03-13-2014 |
20140064102 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR NOISE TOLERANT SIGNAL PROCESSING IN PILOT ASSISTED DATA RECEIVERS - The present disclosure provides systems and methods for noise tolerant signal processing in a pilot assisted data receiver, including: given received pilots with common pilot components and individual pilot components, computing coefficients associated with the individual pilot components of the received pilots; and applying the computed coefficients to the received pilots to obtain conditioned pilots. The individual pilot components result from relatively slow changes of the received pilots relative to the common pilot components. The common pilot components result from relatively fast changes of the received pilots relative to the individual pilot components. | 03-06-2014 |
20140064063 | PROTECTION SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR HANDLING MULTIPLE FAULTS AND ISOLATED NODES IN INTERCONNECTED RING NETWORKS - The present disclosure provides protection systems and methods that provide a mechanism to identify/determine when an interconnection node has been isolated (i.e. when there is no connectivity between a pair of interconnection nodes), from a data path perspective. If/when this condition exists, actions are triggered on the subtending sub-ring that essentially perform a protection switch (which causes the subtending sub-ring nodes to cleanse their forwarding tables), and, more importantly, that remove any channel blocks on the subtending sub-ring. Extensions to the ITU-T G.8032 state machine are also provided that include support for operator command interactions (e.g. DNR, force switch, manual switch, etc.). The protection systems and methods of the present disclosure enable the reliable application of ITU-T G.8032 and the like to more complex (i.e. meshed) deployment environments, among other significant advantages. | 03-06-2014 |
20140055777 | HIGH-POWERED OPTICAL MODULE SAFETY SYSTEMS AND METHODS - A method, optical module, and optical amplifier are configured to detect fiber discontinuities at or near a port from which high powered optical signals are input into a fiber span. These fiber discontinuities can include fiber pinches, and are detected by monitoring for slight changes in a backscatter signal. Detection is quick and efficient based on the backscatter signal being attenuated by the fiber discontinuities twice, namely once as the high powered optical signals and again as the associated backscatter signal of the high powered optical signals returning to the port. Various remedial actions can be taken upon detecting fiber pinches at or near the port. | 02-27-2014 |
20140050476 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR THE COMPENSATION OF NONLINEAR CROSS POLARIZATION AND CROSS PHASE MODULATION IN DUAL POLARIZATION COHERENT CHANNELS - The present disclosure provides systems and methods for the compensation of signal distortion in fiber optic communication systems and the like. More specifically, the present disclosure provides an orthogonal polarization detection and broadband pilot (OPDBP) technique for the compensation of nonlinear cross polarization (i.e. nonlinear cross polarization modulation) (XPolM) induced noise and nonlinear nonlinear cross phase modulation (XPM) induced noise in a high data rate polarization multiplexed (PM) multilevel-quadrature amplitude modulated (M-QAM) channel due to neighboring channels. This approach allows for the compensation of both XPolM and XPM simultaneously, providing several dBs of optical reach extension. The approach uses a pilot tone based orthogonal polarization detection scheme with broadband (i.e. a few GHz wide) filtering of the pilot tones. | 02-20-2014 |
20140044008 | CONSTRAINING TOPOLOGY SIZE AND RECURSIVELY CALCULATING ROUTES IN LARGE NETWORKS - A method of managing a network comprising a plurality of nodes. Each node maintains a respective topology database containing topology information of the network within a local region of the node, the local region encompassing a subset of the plurality of nodes of the network. The nodes of the network implementing a Recursive Path Computation algorithm to compute end-to-end routes through the network. | 02-13-2014 |
20140009763 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS REDUCING COHERENCE EFFECT IN NARROW LINE-WIDTH LIGHT SOURCES - Systems and methods are described for reducing coherence effect in narrow line-width light sources through various modulation techniques. The systems and methods can include a narrow line-width laser source with a thermoelectric cooler thermally coupled thereto and a controller communicatively coupled to the thermoelectric cooler. The controller is configured to provide a varied input signal to the thermoelectric cooler to reduce coherence of the narrow line-width laser source by artificially broadening the narrow line-width on a time averaged basis. The systems and methods can also include direct modulation of the narrow line-width laser source. The systems and methods can include a narrow line-width Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR). The systems and methods can also include direct modulation of the narrow line-width laser source with or without the varied input signal to the thermoelectric cooler. | 01-09-2014 |
20130329565 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR OPERATIONAL SIMPLIFICATION OF CARRIER ETHERNET NETWORKS - A Carrier Ethernet method includes receiving a request to initiate an Ethernet Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM) session at a local device, setting up the OAM session at the local device responsive to the request, transmitting a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) from the local device to a remote device with information related to the OAM session and the request contained therein, and receiving the PDU at the remote device and setting up the OAM session at the remote device based on the information in the PDU. The OAM session can include Ethernet Frame Loss Measurement and can be initiated only at the local device without requiring operator involvement at the remote device | 12-12-2013 |
20130322867 | OPTICAL TRANSPORT NETWORK GENERIC NON-CLIENT SPECIFIC PROTECTION SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Systems and methods for generic non-client specific 1+1 protection are described supporting a uni-directional protection scheme for client interfaces on Optical Transport Network (OTN) networking equipment, regardless of the client protocol and without hardware which can participate in those client protocols. This generic non-client specific 1+1 protection can be implemented in an OTN node, an OTN switching device, or via an OTN method. Faults on client signals are escalated to, and processed at, the ODU path layer instead of the client protocol layer, providing a normalized mechanism for client signal protection. | 12-05-2013 |
20130315580 | SOFTWARE DEFINED NETWORKING PHOTONIC ROUTING SYSTEMS AND METHODS - A network includes a plurality of interconnected nodes utilizing an all-broadcast architecture for a plurality of wavelengths therebetween; a routing protocol configured to compute a loop-free path through the plurality of interconnected nodes, wherein the loop-free path is computed for at least one wavelength of the plurality of wavelengths using routing constructs adapted to a photonic domain; and at least one blocking element configured to selectively block the at least one wavelength based on the computed loop-free path. A routing method photonic node are also disclosed. | 11-28-2013 |
20130287398 | MULTI-CHANNEL OPTICAL TRANSCEIVER WITH OFFSET QUADRATURE AMPLITUDE MODULATION - The present disclosure provides a multi-carrier optical transmitter, receiver, transceiver, and associated methods utilizing offset quadrature amplitude modulation thereby achieving significant increases in spectral efficiency, with negligible sensitivity penalties. In an exemplary embodiment, an optical transmitter includes circuitry configured to generate a plurality of optical subcarriers, a plurality of data signals for each of the plurality of subcarriers, and a plurality of modulator circuits for each of the plurality of subcarriers, wherein each of the plurality of modulator circuits includes circuitry configured to offset an in-phase component from a quadrature component of one of the plurality data signals by one-half baud period. | 10-31-2013 |
20130287397 | ELECTRO-OPTICAL SWITCHING FABRIC SYSTEMS AND METHODS - An optical switch fabric, including: a first set of horizontal optical waveguides receiving a plurality of wavelengths; a plurality of wavelength-selective drop optical switches associated with the first set of horizontal optical waveguides, wherein the plurality of wavelength-selective drop optical switches are each configured to drop a selected wavelength from a horizontal optical waveguide of the first set of horizontal optical waveguides to an associated vertical optical waveguide of a plurality of vertical optical waveguides; and a plurality of controllable optical switches associated with the plurality of vertical optical waveguides, wherein the plurality of controllable optical switches are each configured to direct a selected wavelength from a vertical optical waveguide of the plurality of vertical optical waveguides to a horizontal optical waveguide of a second set of horizontal optical waveguides, and wherein the second set of horizontal optical waveguides output a plurality of wavelengths. | 10-31-2013 |
20130272318 | COMMUNICATION LINK BANDWIDTH FRAGMENTATION AVOIDANCE - A method and system for routing a connection on a communication network. A first bandwidth pool is classified as a long lived bandwidth pool and a second bandwidth pool is classified as a short lived bandwidth pool. The long lived bandwidth pool is used to route connections having a duration that are expected to equal or exceed a predetermined time. The short lived bandwidth pool is used to route connections having a duration that are not expected to exceed the predetermined time. A request to route a connection on the communication network is received. At least one characteristic of the connection is determined and is used to determine whether to route the connection on the long lived bandwidth pool or short lived bandwidth pool. | 10-17-2013 |
20130266312 | OPTICAL TRANSPORT NETWORK TRANSIENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND METHODS - An Optical Transport Network (OTN) transient management method, OTN node, and OTN network includes operating an OTN connection in a first mode in a network, the OTN connection traverses at least two nodes in the network, requesting a change in the OTN connection to a second mode which will cause a network transient, the change includes a timing change on the OTN connection affecting the at least two nodes, and performing transient management at the at least two nodes to mitigate the network transient, the transient management prevents spurious alarms due to the change between the first mode and the second mode. | 10-10-2013 |
20130259493 | SIGNAL FRAMING IN A COHERENT OPTICAL RECEIVER - A method and system for a estimating a most likely location of a periodic SYNC burst within an optical signal received through an optical communications system. A cross-correlation is calculated between a multi-bit digital signal derived from the optical signal and a known symbol sequence of the SYNC burst. The cross-correlation is processed in at least one sub-block to identify a candidate sub-block in which the SYNC burst is most likely located. The candidate sub-block is then further analysed to estimate a location of the SYCN burst. | 10-03-2013 |
20130259465 | ETHERNET PRIVATE LOCAL AREA NETWORK SYSTEMS AND METHODS - The present disclosure provides hybrid packet-optical private network systems and methods for a private and dedicated multi-point Ethernet Private Local Area Network (EPLAN). The network systems and methods include a Layer 1 infrastructure service with the inclusion of reserved, dedicated packet switch capacity upon which clients can build their personal, private packet networks. In the systems and methods described herein, packet networking methods are not used to partition the isolated LAN connectivity. Instead, dedicated Ethernet Private LANs (EPLs) are defined between dedicated virtual switching instances (VSIs) that are defined, as necessary, within larger packet-optical switches. Each VSI is partitioned from the remainder of its packet switch fabric as a dedicated, private resource for a specific EPLAN. A packet network is then built by the customer on top of the private EPLAN bandwidth and operated as an isolated, private network with no influence by other carrier's network resources. | 10-03-2013 |
20130258840 | GENERALIZED SERVICE PROTECTION SYSTEMS AND METHODS - A node includes a first port configured to be selectively blocked and unblocked; a second port configured to be selectively blocked and unblocked; a forwarder between the first port and the second port; a management channel between the first port and the second port, wherein the selective blocking and unblocking of the first port and the second port is based on the management channel; and a data channel between the first port and the second port, wherein the data channel utilizes an arbitrary service identifier. A method can include operating a ring with Ring Protection Switching comprising a forwarding mechanism and a blocking mechanism that are independent and decoupled entities therebetween, wherein the ring includes a management channel and a data channel that each utilize an arbitrary service identifier. | 10-03-2013 |
20130242721 | RETENTION OF A SUB-NETWORK CONNECTION HOME PATH - Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and system for reserving a connection's home path resources and restoring the connection on a link that includes a reserved priority bandwidth. A bandwidth advertisement indicating that the reserved priority bandwidth is available is analyzed and a restoration request requesting to route the connection on the link is sent. The reserved priority bandwidth is used to route the connection when the connection has a reserved home path on the link. When the connection has a reserved home path not on the link, a determination is made as to whether a normal priority bandwidth on the link is available and whether the connection is unrestorable on another link. The reserved priority bandwidth is used to temporarily route the connection when normal priority bandwidth on the link is unavailable and the connection is unrestorable on another link. | 09-19-2013 |
20130238774 | GENERIC MULTI-LAYER PROVISIONING SERVICE MANAGEMENT LAYER SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Network planning/provisioning systems and methods with a Generic Multi-Layer Provisioning (GMLP) service management layer that is configured to operate on any of deployed network elements and spoofed network elements to provide abstract service modeling thereon. The GMLP layer may include a spoofing engine configured to simulate network elements and provisioning functions associated therewith. The associated abstraction of the GMLP layer enables layer 0-4 topologies and services to be modeled, planned, and provisioned. | 09-12-2013 |
20130236169 | COHERENT PROBE AND OPTICAL SERVICE CHANNEL SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR OPTICAL NETWORKS - The present disclosure provides dynamic performance monitoring systems and methods for optical networks to ascertain optical network health in a flexible and accurate manner. The present invention introduces accurate estimations for optical channel performance characteristics based either on existing channels or with a dynamic optical probe configured to measure characteristics on unequipped wavelengths. Advantageously, the dynamic performance monitoring systems and methods introduce the ability to determine physical layer viability in addition to logical layer viability. | 09-12-2013 |
20130230052 | UNIDIRECTIONAL ASYMMETRIC TRAFFIC PATTERN SYSTEMS AND METHODS IN SWITCH MATRICES - A switch fabric system and network element based thereon include a N×M switch fabric with M Trail Termination Points (TTPs) each with N timeslots there through in a bidirectional manner, a first connection in the switch fabric, wherein the first connection includes a unidirectional asymmetric connection of X timeslots, wherein X09-05-2013 | |
20130209091 | HIGH SPEED OPTICAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS WITH FLEXIBLE BANDWIDTH ADAPTATION - A fiber optic system includes a transmitter configured to utilize a plurality of modulation formats and a receiver communicatively coupled to the transmitter and configured to utilize a plurality of modulation formats. The transmitter and the receiver are cooperatively configured to set a modulation format of the plurality of modulation formats based upon optical signal-to-noise ratio associated therewith. A flexible bandwidth adaptation method includes monitoring at least one aspect of an optical link at a network element, responsive to the at least one aspect, computing a new modulation scheme for the optical link, and, if a solution is found for the new modulation scheme, changing to the new modulation format. | 08-15-2013 |
20130209089 | CONSTRAINED CONTINUOUS PHASE MODULATION AND DEMODULATION IN AN OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM - A transmitter in an optical communications system includes a digital signal processor for processing a data signal to generate a sample stream encoding successive symbols in accordance with a constrained phase modulation scheme having a constellation of at least two symbols and a modulation phase constrained to a phase range spanning less than 4π. A digital-to-analog converter converts the sample stream into a corresponding analog drive signal. A finite range phase modulator modulates a phase of a continuous wavelength channel light in accordance with the analog drive signal, to generate a modulated channel light for transmission through the optical communications system. A receiver in the optical communications system includes an optical stage for detecting phase and amplitude of the modulated channel light and for generating a corresponding sample stream, and a digital signal processor for processing the sample stream to estimate each successive symbol of the modulated channel light. | 08-15-2013 |
20130208595 | ADAPTIVE ETHERNET FLOW CONTROL SYSTEMS AND METHODS - A network element implemented method includes receiving an Ethernet connection at a first rate, transmitting the Ethernet connection at a second rate, monitoring a buffer fill associated with the Ethernet connection, and periodically transmitting pause frames to a device associated with the Ethernet connection, wherein the pause frames include a determined optimal pause quanta value based on the first rate, the second rate, and the buffer fill. A network element includes a first port receiving an Ethernet connection at a first rate, a second port transmitting the Ethernet connection at a second rate, and monitor circuitry configured to monitor a buffer fill associated with the Ethernet connection and cause the first port to periodically transmit pause frames, wherein the pause frames include a determined optimal pause quanta value based on the first rate, the second rate, and the buffer fill. | 08-15-2013 |
20130202299 | PATH COMPUTATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS IN OPTICAL NETWORKS - A path computation method includes defining photonic constraints associated with a network, wherein the photonic constraints include wavelength capability constraints at each node in the network, wavelength availability constraints at each node in the network, and nodal connectivity constraints of each node in the network, and performing a constrained path computation in the network using Dijkstra's algorithm on a graph model of the network with the photonic constraints considered therein. An optical network includes a plurality of interconnected nodes each including wavelength capability constraints, wavelength availability constraints, and nodal connectivity constraints, and a path computation element associated with the plurality of interconnected photonic nodes, wherein the path computation element is configured to perform a constrained path computation through the plurality of interconnected nodes using Dijkstra's algorithm on a graph model with the photonic constraints considered therein. | 08-08-2013 |
20130191696 | PARITY FRAME - A method of forward error correction in an optical communications system. A signal to be transmitted is logically defined as a super-frame comprising a plurality of frames including a parity frame and a predetermined set of data frames. Each frame of the super-frame is processed in accordance with a first FEC scheme having a known error correlation characteristic. At least the set of data frames is processed in accordance with a second FEC scheme which is selected based on the error correlation characteristic of the first FEC scheme. | 07-25-2013 |
20130188964 | TRANSPARENT TIMING OF A STRATUM SYNCHRONIZED ETHERNET SIGNAL USING STANDARD OPTICAL TRANPORT NETWORK RATES - A method and system for transparent timing of an Ethernet signal over an optical transport network are disclosed. In one embodiment, a transceiver includes a first clock recovery circuit, a first synchronizer and an asynchronous mapper. The first clock recovery circuit recovers a first clock from a first signal received from an Ethernet network. The first synchronizer multiplies the first clock by a ratio M/N to produce a second clock to time a second signal transmitted over the optical transport network. M and N are integers. The asynchronous mapper maps frames of the first signal to produce frames of the second signal | 07-25-2013 |
20130182585 | LINK MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MULTI-STAGE, HIGH-SPEED SYSTEMS - A system includes a plurality of modules, a backplane communicatively coupled to the plurality of modules, a plurality of links defined between the plurality of modules over the backplane, and a link management system configured to dynamically manage parameters associated with each of the plurality of links A link management method includes, for a system, defining a codebook for each module, device, and interconnect in the system, the codebook includes data describing physical link topologies and configuration parameters associated therewith, for initializing a link in the system, obtaining appropriate codebooks for each segment in the link, calculating an overall link loss for the link based on data in the appropriate codebooks, and obtaining configuration parameters for the link based on the overall link loss. | 07-18-2013 |
20130177311 | PHOTONIC LINK INFORMATION COLLECTION AND ADVERTISEMENT SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Photonic link information collection and advertisement systems and methods enable photonic nodes (e.g., optical amplifiers) to operate within a control plane system in a distributed and real-time manner. For example, the photonic nodes may not require full control plane protocol stacks at each photonic node. In particular, the systems and methods provide a distributed discovery method for photonic links without requiring full participation in the control plane at the photonic nodes. Additionally, the systems and methods include network databases with amplifier configuration information in a control plane enabled network. | 07-11-2013 |
20130177305 | OPTICAL COMMUNICATION NETWORK PATH RESTORATION - A method and system of determining a new path through an optical network from a source node to a destination node when a link in an original path fails are disclosed. When a fault on a link is detected, adjoint weights are assigned to each operational link for each node on the original path. A connection cost is determined for each node based on the adjoint weights of the links connected to the node. A new path through the optical network is determined based at least in part on the adjoint weights and the connection costs. | 07-11-2013 |
20130148192 | DIFFERENTIATION OF POWER AND CHANNEL COUNT CHANGES IN OPTICALLY AMPLIFIED LINKS - Exemplary embodiments of the invention are drawn to a method and apparatus for the differentiation of power and channel count changes in optically amplified links. Additionally, configuration of a corresponding optical amplifier can be based on the determination of the power and channel count changes. | 06-13-2013 |
20130142509 | OPTICAL TRANSPORT NETWORK LINE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHODS - An Optical Transport Network (OTN) mode management system includes a controller communicatively coupled to at least one OTN port. The controller is configured to operate an OTN line Optical channel Data Unit level k (ODUk) mode management system for the at least one OTN port, and the OTN line ODUk mode management system is configured to support different multiplexing scenarios on the OTN port with no loss of control plane packets on aggregated links. A network element includes at least one port with a plurality of lines associated therewith, a controller communicatively coupled to the at least one port, and an OTN line ODUk mode management system executed on the controller for managing the plurality of lines on the at least one port. A method includes configuring and dynamically managing modes of a plurality of OTN lines in a link. | 06-06-2013 |
20130136450 | SIGNAL EQUALIZER IN A COHERENT OPTICAL RECEIVER - A signal equaliser for compensating impairments of an optical signal received through a link of a high speed optical communications network. At least one set of compensation vectors are computed for compensating at least two distinct types of impairments. A frequency domain processor is coupled to receive respective raw multi-bit in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) sample streams of each received polarization of the optical signal. The frequency domain processor operates to digitally process the multi-bit sample streams, using the compensation vectors, to generate multi-bit estimates of symbols modulated onto each transmitted polarization of the optical signal. The frequency domain processor exhibits respective different responses to each one of the at least two distinct types of impairments. | 05-30-2013 |
20130132789 | VIDEO TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS AND METHODS OVER CARRIER ETHERNET - The present disclosure provides video transmission systems and methods with video data flows transmitted over a Carrier Ethernet Network at Layer 2 with redundancy in order to provide hitless protection switching and uninterrupted video service delivery, such as during periods of asymmetric congestion or hard network failures. In an exemplary embodiment, the video transmission systems and methods provide the redundancy in a manner similar to 1+1 linear protection with hit-less protection switching. In another exemplary embodiment, the video transmission systems and methods provide encapsulated video signals over Ethernet using standardized Carrier Ethernet frames with additional sequencing information. Optionally, the video transmission systems and methods may also include packet-based forward error correction information for additional resiliency. These video transmission systems and methods provide uninterrupted and error-free video during broadcast despite network events such as fiber breaks, equipment failures, congestion, etc. | 05-23-2013 |
20130129348 | SUBCARRIER POWER BALANCE CONTROL - A method of controlling a multiple sub-carrier optical channel of an optical communications system. The multiple sub-carrier optical channel includes at least two sub-carriers modulated with respective sub-channel data streams within a spectral range allocated to a single optical channel of the optical communications system. A transmitter modem of the optical communications system applies a respective dither signal to each sub-carrier. A receiver modem of the optical communications system detects a respective quality metric of each sub-carrier. A respective optimum power level of each sub-carrier is estimated based on the applied dither signals and the detected quality metrics. A respective power level of each sub-carrier is then adjusted in accordance with the estimated respective optimum power level of each sub-carrier. | 05-23-2013 |
20130129345 | OPTICAL TRANSPORT NETWORK SYNCHRONIZATION AND TIMESTAMPING SYSTEMS AND METHODS - The present disclosure provides to Optical Transport Network (OTN_ synchronization systems and methods that maintain proper sequential ordering of events at nodes which may be utilized in performing root cause analysis or diagnosing network performance. In an exemplary embodiment, the systems and methods utilize functionality incorporated into OTN providing a cost effective and standards-based approach to nodal synchronization. Once synchronized, network events are logged with an appropriate timestamp enabling a determination of a sequential order of network events can be determined. Further, the node timestamps may be synchronized, with microsecond or even sub-microsecond of precession which is critical in diagnosing network failures or slow traffic recovery. | 05-23-2013 |
20130128330 | FIBER OPTICAL PACKAGE INTERCONNECT - Optical devices and systems including a polarization maintaining interconnect are disclosed. An optical assembly can include an optical component, a low-birefringence optical fiber and a polarization transformer. The polarization transformer is coupled between the optical component and the optical fiber. The polarization transformer is configured to transform between a substantially circularly-polarized light at the low-birefringence optical fiber and a substantially linearly-polarized light at the optical component. | 05-23-2013 |
20130114953 | OPTICAL TRANSPORT NETWORK PORT PROTECTION SYSTEMS AND METHODS USING FLEXIBLE SWITCH CRITERIA - The present disclosure provides Optical Transport Network (OTN) port protection systems and methods using flexible switch criteria. Specifically, the OTN port protection systems and methods provide linear protection in OTN such as 1+1 Protection with Automatic Protection Switching (APS) and/or 1+1 Subnetwork Connection Protection (SNCP) Protection. The OTN Port Protection with flexible switch criteria allows a user to provision a protection application on an OTN Port and select a switch criteria, Section Monitoring, Path Monitoring, or Tandem Connection Monitoring, without considering the provisioning state of an Optical channel Data Unit level k (ODUk) entity. The ODUk entity may either be cross-connected in the LO case or terminated in the HO case. The ODUk entity may be provisioned independently, after the port protection has been established. | 05-09-2013 |
20130114394 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DYNAMIC OPERATIONS, ADMINISTRATION, AND MANAGEMENT - Systems and methods with dynamic Connectivity Fault Management (CFM) and Continuity Check Messages (CCMs) that enable dynamic configurations to avoid limitations associated with static reconfigurations. Variously, a network, a method, and a network element are configured to implement a dynamic CFM method for dynamic notifications and actions taken based thereon between Maintenance End Points (MEPs). The systems and methods may also include a CCM attribute adjustment method between two MEPs, a CCM suspension and/or resumption method between two MEPs, and a MEP auto-discovery and leaving method. Advantageously, the systems and methods may be utilized in a variety of contexts including controlled maintenance, in-service software upgrades, network congestion, discovery of new remote MEPs, and the like to enable dynamic configurations between MEPs. The systems and methods may also apply to Carrier Ethernet, Multiprotocol Label Switching-Transport Profile (MPLS-TP), and the like. | 05-09-2013 |
20130100817 | METHOD FOR DISCOVERY AND LOAD BALANCING OF PATH COMPUTATION ELEMENTS BASED ON TRANSPORT PLANE LINK METRICS - A method and system for path computation in a communications network having multiple domains are disclosed. According to one aspect, a method of path computation across multiple domains includes identifying a plurality of border nodes at borders of a plurality of domains, each domain having at least one border node. The method includes providing a path computation element at each of the plurality of border nodes of the domains of the network. The locations of the path computation elements are known to be at the border nodes prior to determining a path in response to a path computation request. | 04-25-2013 |
20130089341 | MINIMUM VARIANCE CARRIER RECOVERY - Accordingly, an aspect of the present invention provides a method of data symbol recovery. A respective probabilistic phase error is calculated for each of a plurality of data symbol estimates. A phase rotation is calculated based on the probabilistic phase error estimates, using a filter function, and the phase rotation applied to at least one data symbol estimate to generate a corresponding rotated symbol estimate. Each rotated symbol estimate is processed to generate corresponding decision values of each data symbol. | 04-11-2013 |
20130071116 | VIRTUAL CORE ROUTER AND SWITCH SYSTEMS AND METHODS WITH A HYBRID CONTROL ARCHITECTURE - The present disclosure provides virtual router/switch systems and methods with a domain of optical switches operating as a single, virtualized router using a control plane design combining centralized control of higher layer packet switching functions with distributed control over transport switching functions. The virtual router systems and methods simplify and reduce cost of Internet Protocol (IP) networks by removing the core routers, replacing them with lower cost, high capacity optical switches which are Packet Optical Transport Systems (POTS). The virtual router systems and methods avoids full mesh connectivity of the edge routers and the associated need to maintain routing adjacencies to each of the other edge routers. The virtual router systems and methods include a centralized IP layer management. Further, the virtual router systems and methods include distributed control of the optical layers. | 03-21-2013 |
20130070617 | SHORTEST PATH ROUTING SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR NETWORKS WITH NON-FULLY MESHED VERTICES - Shortest path routing systems and methods are presented for networks with non-fully meshed vertices or nodes. The systems and methods may include a shortest path routing method in a network with non-fully meshed vertices, a network with non-fully meshed vertices, and a system for implementing the shortest path routing methods. The shortest path routing systems and methods include modifications to the Dijkstra algorithm to more accurately model a network, such as an optical or photonic network. In an exemplary embodiment, the Dijkstra algorithm is modified to represent degrees at a site with an ingress vertex (e.g., a demultiplexer) and an egress vertex (e.g., a multiplexer). In another exemplary embodiment, in addition to representing degrees as ingress and egress vertices, the Dijkstra algorithm is modified to maintain knowledge of previously visited degrees to prevent revisiting a same degree in determining a shortest path. | 03-21-2013 |
20130058647 | TRANSIENT AND SWITCHING EVENT STABILIZATION OF FIBER OPTIC TRANSPORT SYSTEMS - A method and system for transient and switching stabilization of a fiber optic transport system. One or more data-bearing channels are coupled to an optical fiber. The data-bearing channels are distributed among a plurality of frequency sub-bands. A set of control channels is also coupled to the optical fiber. Each control channel includes a pair of signals at separate frequencies. There is at least one control channel in each of the plurality of frequency sub-bands. The pair of signals of a control channel are cross-polarized. Optical power in at least one of the plurality of sub-bands is measured. Responsive to the measured optical power, the optical power of a control channel is adjusted to maintain a substantially constant power of a sub-band that contains the adjusted control channel. | 03-07-2013 |
20130028601 | VIDEO OVER ETHERNET BANDWIDTH OPTIMIZATION - Methods and apparatuses for controlling the flow of video over Ethernet (VoE) traffic in a network are disclosed. The method can include originating the VoE traffic from an add node in the network. A first control signal can be received from a first drop node in the network containing a drop port configured to receive the VoE traffic. The add node can determined if the first drop node contains the drop port based on the first control signal. | 01-31-2013 |
20130028071 | IN-BAND SIGNALING FOR POINT-MULTIPOINT PACKET PROTECTION SWITCHING - A method and system provide in-band protection switch signaling in a communication system arranged as a point-to-multipoint tree. The point-to-multipoint tree includes a root node communicatively coupled to a plurality of leaf nodes through both a working link and a protection link. Data is transferred through a current link of the point-to-multipoint tree. The current link is either the working link or the protection link. A fault is detected in the current link in the point-to-multipoint tree. Each leaf node in the point-to-multipoint tree is notified of the fault using the current link. Upon receiving the notification, the root node and each leaf node switch to the other link of the working link and the protection link. | 01-31-2013 |
20130011132 | HYBRID PACKET-OPTICAL PRIVATE NETWORK SYSTEMS AND METHODS - The present disclosure provides hybrid packet-optical private network systems and methods for a private and dedicated multi-point Ethernet Private Local Area Network (EPLAN). The network systems and methods include a Layer 1 infrastructure service with the inclusion of reserved, dedicated packet switch capacity upon which clients can build their personal, private packet networks. In the systems and methods described herein, packet networking methods are not used to partition the isolated LAN connectivity. Instead, dedicated Ethernet Private LANs (EPLs) are defined between dedicated virtual switching instances (VSIs) that are defined, as necessary, within larger packet-optical switches. Each VSI is partitioned from the remainder of its packet switch fabric as a dedicated, private resource for a specific EPLAN. A packet network is then built by the customer on top of the private EPLAN bandwidth and operated as an isolated, private network with no influence by other carrier's network resources. | 01-10-2013 |
20130007230 | METHOD OF NETWORK RECONFIGURATION IN OPTICAL TRANSPORT NETWORKS - A method of reconfiguring a network having a transport plane for carrying subscriber traffic flows within end-to-end connections, a control plane for managing at least a portion of resources of the transport plane allocated to each connection, and a management plane for implementing management functions in the control plane and any resources of the transport plane that are not managed by the control plane. The method comprises installing an updated version of a control plane name space for a target node of the network. For each connection traversing the target node: a control plane to management plane migration is performed for removing connection state in the control plane associated with the connection, so as to transfer ownership of the connection from the control plane to the management plane; followed by a management plane to control plane migration for installing new connection state in the control plane associated with the connection, so as to transfer ownership of the connection from the management plant to the control plane, the new connection state being defined using the updated version of the control plane name space. | 01-03-2013 |
20120321325 | PARALLEL CONVERSION BETWEEN OPTICAL AND DIGITAL - A coherent optical receiver Includes an electro-optic module coupled to an electronic signal processing Integrated circuit (IC) via a parallel analog transmission line bus. The electro-optic module receives and detects an optical channel light including a high-bandwidth signal modulated thereon. The electro-optic module includes: a single optical hybrid for mixing the optical channel light with a corresponding continuous wave local oscillator light to generate a mixed light containing the high-bandwidth data signal, at least one photodetector; and an analog frequency decimator for generating a set of parallel analog signals, each analog signal representing a respective portion of the high-bandwidth signal. The electronic signal processing IC includes a respective Analog-to-digital (A/D) converter for sampling each one of the set of parallel analog signals, and for generating corresponding parallel digital sample streams; and a digital signal processor (DSP) for processing the parallel digital sample streams to extract the high-bandwidth signal. | 12-20-2012 |
20120315037 | SPLITTING AND MERGING ROUTING DOMAINS - Apparatuses and methods for merging multiple domains into a merged domain and splitting a single domain into multiple domains in an Automatically Switched Optical Network (ASON) are disclosed. For merging, a node in a first domain can be identified to be a new Routing Controller (RC) for the merged domain. A second domain can be identified to be merged with the first domain. Nodes, including old RCs, in the first domain and the second domain are notified of the identity of the new RC in the merged domain. The topology of the old RC's domain is sent to the new RC. The new topology is computed by the new RC from the topology information given by the old RCs. The updated topology is distributed to nodes in the merged domain via the new RC. | 12-13-2012 |
20120281710 | LINEAR ROUTE PROTECTION - A system for controlling packet forwarding through a point-to-point (p2p) connection between first and second end nodes of a packet network domain having a mesh topology. The system comprises a sub-ring network instantiated in the network domain, the sub-ring network comprising a pair of topologically diverse ring spans extending between the first and second end nodes. Each of the end nodes is controlled to forward packets of the p2p connection through the sub-ring network in accordance with a ring network routing scheme, and an intermediate node traversed by one of the ring spans is controlled to forward packets of the p2p connection through the ring span in accordance with a linear path routing scheme. | 11-08-2012 |
20120226824 | DISTRIBUTED NETWORK PLANNING SYSTEMS AND METHODS - The present disclosure provides distributed domain network planning systems and methods. The network planning systems and methods include a distributed domain network planning system that adapts planning concepts to networks operated by modern distributed control planes, such as ASON/ASTN, GMPLS, etc. The network planning systems and methods operate on a multi-domain network utilizing a control plane and local planning systems associated with each individual domain in the multi-domain network. The network planning systems and methods also operate on a single domain network utilizing a control plane and local planning systems associated with the single domain network. The network planning systems and methods build on a distributed control plane philosophy that the network is the database of record. There is significant operational value to distributing the planning function of a large network using the systems and methods disclosed herein. | 09-06-2012 |
20120201539 | PHOTONIC ROUTING SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR LOOP AVOIDANCE - A photonic network includes a plurality of nodes each supporting add and drop of at least Y wavelengths, a plurality of optical links interconnecting the plurality of nodes, the plurality of optical links support up to X wavelengths and Y≦X, an optical routing protocol configured to compute a loop-free path through the plurality of nodes on the plurality of links, the loop-free path is computed for one of the X wavelengths or a group of the X wavelengths using routing constructs adapted to a photonic domain, and optical components at each of the plurality of nodes configured to selectively block at least one of the X wavelengths based on the computed loop-free path. A photonic routing method and photonic node are also disclosed. | 08-09-2012 |
20120183294 | COLORLESS, DIRECTIONLESS, AND GRIDLESS OPTICAL NETWORK, NODE, AND METHOD - An optical node includes an optical routing apparatus including N ports, N is an integer greater than 2, the optical routing apparatus configured to direct light that is input to each of the N ports to all of the other N ports, and a configurable optical blocking element located in line with at least one of the N ports. A method includes broadcasting a plurality of optical signals over a plurality of ports using a broadcast element, selectively receiving a desired signal from all of the plurality of optical signals at one of the plurality of ports, and blocking the plurality of signals via a blocking element in line with one of the plurality of ports thereby preventing a multiple path of the broadcast plurality of optical signals. | 07-19-2012 |
20120148262 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REDUCING MEMORY REQUIREMENTS FOR ELECTRICAL DOMAIN COMPENSATION OF INTRA-CHANNEL NONLINEARITY IN AN OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM - A digital filter processes an input signal to be conveyed through an optical communications system. The processing generates a predistorted signal using a compensation function that mitigates impairments of the optical communications system. The input signal has a sample period of T, while the predistorted signal has a sample period of T/2. The digital filter has a first branch including a respective first T-spaced filter for processing the input signal using the compensation function to generate a corresponding first output signal comprising nT/2 samples with n odd. A second branch includes a respective second T-spaced filter for processing the input signal with a delay of T relative to the first branch using the compensation function to generate a corresponding second output signal comprising nT/2 samples with n even. A combiner operates to combine the first and second output signals to generate the predistorted signal having a sample period of T/2. | 06-14-2012 |
20120106950 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OPTICAL NETWORK SMART TIMER MANAGEMENT VIA DELAY MEASUREMENT BETWEEN SPANS - A method and system for determining timers in an High Level Data Link Control (HDLC) Traffic Manager (HTM) state machine are disclosed. According to one aspect, the invention provides for determining a transit delay between two nodes by sending a first packet having a delay measurement byte to a second node that is on a link between the first node and the second node. The method also includes receiving a second packet with the delay measurement byte from the second node. The delay measurement byte sent by the second node is adjusted by the second node to indicate its receipt by the second node. A measured delay value is determined. The measured delay value is the delay between a time of sending the first packet to the second node and receiving the second packet from the second node. The measured delay value is determined by the hardware of the first node. Upon determining the measured delay value, timer values of the HTM state machine are set based on the measured delay value. | 05-03-2012 |
20120099858 | HIGHLY SCALABLE OSPF ROUTING IN SUPPORT OF FULL MESH OPTICAL NETWORKS - A method for enabling Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) routing in a transport network. The method comprises defining a network segment template; instantiating a respective network segment template for each node+link segment of the transport network; and connecting the link area of a first template instance to the node area of a second template instance using a remote ABR. The network segment template comprises a node area for enabling OSPF routing between addresses within a node of the transport network; a link area for enabling OSPF routing between the node and an adjacent neighbour node in the transport network; and a host Area Boarder Router (ABR) connected to the node area and the link area. The host ABR is configured to generate summary Link State Advertisement (LSA) messages containing a summary of addresses in the node area, and forward the summary LSA messages through the link area. The remote ABR is configured to generate summary LSA messages containing a summary of addresses reachable in the node area of the second template instance, and forward the summary LSAs through the link area of the first template instance. | 04-26-2012 |
20120076507 | SINGLE PIN COHERENT RECEIVER - In a coherent optical receiver of an optical communications system, methods and systems for receiving a data signal x(t) modulated on an optical signal. A linearly polarized LO light is generated, which has a frequency of f | 03-29-2012 |
20120076014 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRAFFIC ENGINEERING IN SHORTEST PATH BRIDGED NETWORKS - A method and apparatus for diverting traffic in a communications network are disclosed. According to one aspect, the invention provides a communications network with a first node and a second node. Connecting these two nodes is a first set of intermediate nodes on a first path (the true shortest path) and a second set of intermediate nodes on a second alternate path. At a first node, a first processor determines whether a packet arriving at the first node must transit the second node. If so, the base virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier (VID) of the packet is replaced by a first VID, and the packet is transmitted along the second path through the second set of intermediate nodes to the second node. At the second node, a second processor determines whether a packet arriving at the second node must transit the first node. If so, the base VID of the packet is replaced by a second VID different from the first VID and different from the base VID, and the packet is transmitted along the second path through the second set of intermediate nodes to the first node. | 03-29-2012 |
20120063786 | CLOCK RECOVERY WITH CHANNEL COEFFICIENTS - In a coherent optical receiver of an optical communications network, a method of recovering a clock signal from a high speed optical signal received through an optical link. A set of compensation vectors are adaptively computed for compensating Inter-symbol Interference (ISI) due to at least polarization impairments of the optical signal. A channel delay is estimated based on the computed compensation vectors. The estimated channel delay is subtracted from the computed compensation vectors to generate corresponding modified compensation vectors. Finally, the modified compensation vectors are used to derive a recovered clock signal. | 03-15-2012 |
20120044849 | POWER ALLOCATION IN CLOSED-LOOP DOWNLINK COOPERATIVE MULTIPLE POINT (COMP) TRANSMISSION - Techniques for power allocation among a plurality of network nodes in a communication network for cooperative downlink transmission to a mobile terminal are provided. Cooperative transmission to a mobile terminal is done in a selected one of a plurality of frequency bands allocated for cooperative downlink transmission, wherein each network node has a respective predetermined frequency band transmission power level for each of the plurality of frequency bands allocated for cooperative downlink transmission. Selection of the frequency band on which the mobile terminal will be cooperatively transmitted to is based on channel state information indicative of the channel between the mobile terminal and each of the network nodes and, for each of the frequency bands, the respective plurality of predetermined frequency band transmission power levels corresponding to the plurality of network nodes. | 02-23-2012 |
20120039606 | LOW POWER OPTICAL TRANSCEIVER USING ORTHOGONAL POLARIZATION DETECTION TECHNIQUE - A method and apparatus for simultaneous processing of signals impressed on a horizontal polarization of a light wave and on a vertical polarization of the light wave is provided. In one embodiment, a horizontal polarization pilot tone is impressed on a data signal carried by the horizontal polarization and a vertical polarization pilot tone is impressed on a data signal carried by the vertical polarization. A receiver processes the dual-polarized light wave and converts it to an X channel signal and a Y channel signal. The X and Y channel signals are processed in separate channels to recover a phase and frequency offset between them and a local oscillator. The phase and frequency recovered and frequency de-multiplexed signals are further processed to polarization de-multiplex the data signal carried by the horizontal polarization and the data signal carried by the vertical polarization. | 02-16-2012 |
20120033666 | E-SPRING SUPPORT OF ETHERNET PROTECTION - A method of routing traffic through a packet network having a mesh physical topography. At least two types of network primitive are defined, each type of network primitive providing a respective model of traffic forwarding through at least two neighbour nodes of the network. A network model encompassing at least a portion of the network is constructed using a set of two or more interconnected network primitives. The network model has nodes and links corresponding to respective nodes and lines of the network. Respective forwarding information is computed for each node of the network model. For each node of the network model, the respective computed forwarding information is installed in a forwarding database of the corresponding node of the network, such that traffic is forwarded by each node of the network in accordance with the respective computed forwarding information. | 02-09-2012 |
20120027403 | COMMUNICATION CLOCK TRANSPORT METHOD AND DEVICE - A method and apparatus for timing an output signal based on timing of an input signal is provided. A method includes determining a first clock rate derived from the input signal during a first time interval measured by a reference clock. The method also includes signal processing logic to determine a second clock rate during a second time interval based on an error signal that is calculated as a difference between the first clock rate multiplied by the second time interval and a previous value of the second clock rate multiplied by the first time interval. | 02-02-2012 |
20110268442 | COHERENT AUGMENTED OPTICAL ADD-DROP MULTIPLEXER - In an Optical Add-Drop Multiplexer, a drop section comprises a Wavelength Selective Switch (WSS) having at least one drop-port, the WSS being operative to couple a respective set of w (where w> | 11-03-2011 |
20110243573 | SIGNAL EQUALIZER IN A COHERENT RECEIVER - A signal equalizer for compensating impairments of an optical signal received through a link of a high speed optical communications network. At least one set of compensation vectors are computed for compensating at least two distinct types of impairments. A frequency domain processor is coupled to receive respective raw multi-bit in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) sample streams of each received polarization of the optical signal. The frequency domain processor operates to digitally process the multi-bit sample streams, using the compensation vectors, to generate multi-bit estimates of symbols modulated onto each transmitted polarization of the optical signal. The frequency domain processor exhibits respective different responses to each one of the at least two distinct types of impairments. | 10-06-2011 |
20110222862 | MAKE BEFORE BREAK OPTICAL MESH NETWORK ELEMENT - A network element includes an electronic switch for routing traffic between a plurality of client access ports and a plurality of EO ports, a respective EO interface coupled to each one of the plurality of EO ports; a wavelength selective switch for optically switching optical signals between the EO interfaces and a set of optical transmission fibers; and a control system. The plurality of EO interfaces includes at least one Make Before Break (MBB) OE interface. The control system is operative to reconfigure the network element by identifying an EO interface to be reconfigured. A new optical path is set up through the wavelength selective switch and terminated on the MBB EO interface. The electronic switch is then controlled to re-route a traffic flow traversing the identified EO interface to the MBB EO interface. | 09-15-2011 |
20110222854 | COHERENT OPTICAL HUBBING - An optical communications system includes a hub modem and a set of two or more remote modems. Each remote modem includes a transmitter stage for transmitting a respective uplink data stream within a selected one of a set of two or more sub-channels. The hub modem optically communicates with the set of remote modems. The hub modem includes a receiver stage having an optical front-end for receiving an uplink optical channel signal within a spectral range that encompasses the set of two or more spectral sub-bands; a photodetector for detecting modulation components of the received uplink optical channel signal and for generating a corresponding high bandwidth analog signal; and a digital signal processor for processing the high bandwidth analog signal to recover the respective uplink data stream transmitted by each remote modem. | 09-15-2011 |
20110222846 | SHARED PHOTONIC MESH - A network element of an optical communications network. The network element comprises an electronic router for forwarding traffic between a set of client access ports and a plurality of I/O ports. A respective EO interface is coupled to each one of the plurality of I/O ports. Each EO interface terminates a respective optical channel. A directionally independent access (DIA) node is configured to selectively route each optical channel between its respective EO interface and a selected one of at least two optical fiber links of the optical communications network. | 09-15-2011 |
20110222394 | FABRIC EXTRA TRAFFIC - A method of forwarding traffic through a network node including an ingress IO card, an egress IO card, and a pair of parallel switch fabric cards. One of the switch fabric cards is designated as a working switch fabric card, and the other one of the switch fabric cards is designated as a protection switch fabric card. In the ingress IO card, the traffic flow is divided into a committed information rate (CIR) component and an extra information rate (EIR) signal. Under a normal operating condition of the node, the ingress IO card forwards the CIR traffic component through the working switch fabric card, and forwards the EIR traffic component through the protection switch fabric card. Upon detection of a failure impacting the working switch fabric card, the ingress IO card drops the EIR traffic component and forwards the CIR traffic component through the protection switch fabric card. | 09-15-2011 |
20110200324 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OPTICAL CONNECTION VALIDATION - An optical add/drop multiplexer (OADM) having an Add path for adding optical channel signals input through a plurality of Add ports to an outbound dense wavelength division multiplexed (DWDM) signal, and a Drop path for switching selected channels from an inbound DWDM signal to one or more of a plurality of Drop ports. The OADM has a loopback connection between the Add path and the Drop path. The loopback connection couples a selected loopback channel wavelength from the Add path to the Drop path. The physical connection between a transceiver and the OADM can be verified by connecting the transmitter to an Add port of the OADM and the receiver to a Drop port of the OADM. The OADM is controlled to switch the selected loopback channel wavelength in the Drop path to at least one intended drop port to which the receiver should be connected, and the transmitter is controlled to transmit a predetermined test signal using the loopback channel wavelength. Detecting the test signal by the receiver verifies that the receiver is connected to the at least one intended drop port. | 08-18-2011 |
20110075554 | E-SPRING (G.8032) INTERWORKING TO PROVIDE ACCESS PROTECTION - A method of enabling a resilient interface between a first node and a G.8032 Ethernet ring. A Link Aggregation Group (LAG) comprising respective links is provided between the first node and at least two ring nodes of the Ethernet ring. An aggregation function is instantiated at the first node, for distributing subscriber traffic to the links of the LAG in a conventional manner. A first one of the ring nodes is designated as Active, and each of the other ones of the ring nodes are designated as Inactive. At each Inactive ring node, a logical block is imposed on its respective link of the LAG, such that subscriber traffic between the first node and the Ethernet ring is routed by the aggregation function only through the respective link between the first node and the Active ring node. | 03-31-2011 |
20110019545 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTO DETECTION OF AAL5 TYPE FRAMES FOR VCC AND VPC SWITCHES - In Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) communications networks, certain congestion control features, such as Partial Packet Discard (PPD) and Early Packet Discard (EPD), operate on ATM cells that have been segmented from ATM Adaptation Layer #5 (AAL5) frames (packets). AAL5 frames are automatically detected by observing transitions of an indicator in the ATM cell header unique to AAL5 traffic. Automatic detection of AAL5 traffic allows enablement of packet-aware cell discarding techniques such as PPD and EPD on a Virtual Channel Connection (VCC) basis, whether in a switch for a VCC or for a Virtual Path Connection (VPC) to which the VCC belongs. | 01-27-2011 |
20100278540 | SYSTEM, DEVICE, AND METHOD FOR SUPPORTING CUT-THROUGH PATHS IN AN OPTICAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM - A system, device, and method for supporting cut-through pats in an optical communication system involves obtaining hop count and quality of service information by an initiating device and using the hop count and quality of service information by the initiating device to make decisions relating to a cut-through path. The hop count and quality of service information is provided in a reply message that is sent by a terminating device and modified by intermediate devices between the initiating device and the terminating device. The terminating device sends the reply with a hop count equal to one and quality of service information for a first link (hop) toward the initiating device. Each intermediate device increments the hop count in the reply and adds quality of service information for a next link (hop) into the reply. | 11-04-2010 |
20100272446 | CONTROL SYSTEM FOR A POLAR OPTICAL TRANSMITTER - A method of controlling a polar optical transmitter comprising a dual-branch Mach-Zehnder (MZ) modulator driven by a pair of independent electrical drive signals. A cost function is provided which defines a relationship between a control parameter of the optical transmitter and a power level of an output optical signal generated by the MZ modulator. A selected component of the electrical drive signals is dithered using a predetermined dither signal. A modulation depth of the output optical signal power level corresponding to the dither signal is detected, and the control parameter adjusted based on the cost function and the detection result. | 10-28-2010 |
20100054731 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR THE HIERARCHICAL MESH RESTORATION OF CONNECTIONS IN AN AUTOMATICALLY SWITCHED OPTICAL NETWORK - The present disclosure describes methods and systems for the hierarchical mesh restoration of connections in an ASON or the like. These methods and systems provide a mesh restorable OTN server layer that carries an aggregate of mesh restorable SONET/SDH SNCs, without designating SONET/SDH/OTN hand-off ports or work/protect lines. Server layer SNCs are terminated on Virtual Trail Termination Points (VTTPs) on the NEs. These VTTPs maintain all of the attributes of physical Trail Termination Points (TTPs). The server routing protocol creates physical TTP interfaces at the server layer, and the server layer advertises bandwidth to the client layer routing protocol. A failure in the server layer results in the mesh restoration of an aggregate line, holding off the release of the individual client SNCs. Only when the server layer cannot restore are these individual client SNCs released. | 03-04-2010 |
20100027536 | Processing, Forming, Modifying, and Comparing Packet Data Structures - Packet data structure formation methods include receiving a request to create a data structure for representing a packet. The request may refer to two or more fields to be included in the packet. The methods further include determining bit values and packet positions associated with the fields and, based on the determining, creating a set of bits comprising the packet. The set of bits include the bit values in the packet positions. The method further includes storing the set of bits using the data structure. | 02-04-2010 |
20100027429 | Packet Switch Modeling and Using a Packet Switch Model to Test a Packet Switch - Packet switch test methods include receiving a first packet from a packet switch, receiving a second packet from processing circuitry configured to model expected behavior of the packet switch, comparing the first packet to the second packet, and, based on the comparing, determining whether the packet switch is operating according to the expected behavior. Packet switch modeling methods include identifying functionality of a packet switch to be modeled, creating, in a packet switch model, a plurality of nodes representing physical and/or logical elements of the packet switch, the nodes being configured to process packet data structures and to respectively model different portions of the functionality of the packet switch relative to one another, and, in the packet switch model, connecting the nodes with pathways by which the packet data structures may be forwarded between the nodes. | 02-04-2010 |
20090304381 | System and method for configuration discovery in an optical network - A system and method for discovering configuration errors in an optical network is disclosed. The neighbors of each node are discovered. An information model of the optical network is formed, which may be used to determine configuration errors. In one embodiment, each node exchanges node identification messages with neighboring nodes to discover its neighbors, publishes the node neighbor information to the optical network, and forms its own information model from the node neighbor information published by the nodes. | 12-10-2009 |
20090265310 | Data Retrieval from a Plurality of Distinct Storage Devices Using an Index Value - A first processor receives a request for records from a requester. The records include an index field and the records are stored in a plurality of storage devices associated respectively with a plurality of second processors. Individual storage devices of the plurality of storage devices are physically distinct from one another. Subsequent to the receiving of the request, the first processor retrieves the records from the plurality of storage devices using the plurality of second processors. The first processor then arranges the retrieved records in an order based at least on the index field and provides the retrieved records to the requestor in the order. | 10-22-2009 |
20090022497 | HIGH-SPEED OPTICAL TRANSCEIVER FOR INFINIBAND AND ETHERNET - The present invention provides a high-speed 100G optical transceiver for InfiniBand and Ethernet with associated mapping to frame InfiniBand and Ethernet into GFP-T. The optical transceiver utilizes an architecture which relies on standards-compliant (i.e., multi-sourced) physical client interfaces. These client interfaces are back-ended with flexible, programmable Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) modules to accomplish either InfiniBand or Ethernet protocol control, processing, re-framing, and the like. Next, signals are encoded with Forward Error Correction (FEC) and can include additional Optical Transport Unit (OTU) compliant framing structures. The resulting data is processed appropriately for the subsequent optical re-transmission, such as, for example, with differential encoding, Gray encoding, I/Q Quadrature encoding, and the like. The data is sent to an optical transmitter block and modulated onto an optical carrier. Also, the same process proceeds in reverse on the receive side. | 01-22-2009 |