Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100054240 | Single-Rotator Circulating Switch - Switch elements, each receiving data from external sources and transmitting data to external sinks, are interconnected through a single rotator to form a switching node. The single rotator has a number of inlets equal to the number of switch elements and a number of outlets equal to the number of switch elements. A first set of channels connects the switch elements to inlets of the rotator and a second set of channels connects the outlets of the rotator to the switch elements. The connectivity pattern of the second set of channels is a transposition of the connectivity pattern of the first set of channels in order to preserve sequential data order of switched data. A controller communicatively coupled to the switch elements exchanges timing data with external nodes of a time-coherent network and schedules data transfer among the switch elements. | 03-04-2010 |
20110052199 | Time-Coherent Global Network - A network of global coverage, scalable to hundreds of petabits per second, comprises bufferless switch units each of dimension n×n, n>1, arranged in a matrix of ν columns and ν rows, ν>1, interconnecting a maximum of ν×n edge nodes. Each edge node has ν upstream channels to ν switch units in ν different columns and ν downstream channels from ν switch units in ν different rows. All upstream channels to a switch unit are time-locked to the switch unit, thus enabling coherent switching at the switch unit. | 03-03-2011 |
20120045204 | Network with a Fast-Switching Optical Core Providing Widely Varying Flow-rate Allocations - Multiple switch planes, each having meshed bufferless switch units, connect source nodes to sink nodes to form a communications network. Each directed pair of source and sink nodes has a first-order path traversing a single switch unit in a corresponding switch plane and multiple second-order paths each traversing two switch units in one of the remaining switch planes. To reduce processing effort and minimize requisite switching hardware, connectivity patterns of source nodes and sink nodes to the switch planes are selected so that each pair of source node and sink node connects only once to a common switch unit. Widely-varying flow rates may be allocated from each source node to the sink nodes. To handle frequent changes of flow-rate allocations, in order to follow variations of traffic distribution, a high-throughput scheduling system employing coordinated multiple scheduler units is provided in each switch plane. | 02-23-2012 |
20120257616 | Single-Rotator Latent Space Switch with an External Controller - A latent space switch based on a single rotator and an array of memory devices is disclosed. The switch interfaces with external nodes through a set of access ports. The rotator has a set of inlets and a set of outlets with each inlet connecting to each outlet during a time frame organized into time slots. During each time slot, an inlet alternately connects to an access port and a memory device while a transposed outlet of the inlet alternately connects to the same memory device and another access port. Multiple temporal multiplexers submit upstream control messages from the access ports to a multi-port master controller. Multiple temporal demultiplexers distribute downstream control messages sent from the master controller to the access ports. | 10-11-2012 |
20120257636 | Single-Rotator Latent Space Switch with an Embedded Controller - A single rotator successively connects a set of access ports to a set of memory devices and a multi-port controller and connects the set of memory devices and the multi-port controller to the set of access ports. The rotator has a set of inlets and a set of outlets and cyclically connects each inlet to each outlet during a rotation cycle. A set of inlet selectors connecting to the inlets of the rotator and a set of outlet selectors connecting to the outlets of the rotator are coordinated to concurrently connect the access ports to the memory devices and to the master controller through the rotator, and concurrently connect the memory devices and the master controller to the access ports. Each memory device connects to an inlet selector and a corresponding transposed outlet selector. | 10-11-2012 |
20120257637 | Latent Space Switch using a Single Transposing Rotator - A single transposing rotator successively connects a set of access ports to a set of memory devices and the set of memory devices to the set of access ports. A set of inlet selectors connecting to rotator inlets and a set of outlet selectors connecting to rotator outlets are coordinated to concurrently connect the access ports to the memory devices through the rotator, and concurrently connect the memory devices to the access ports. Each memory device connects to an inlet selector and a corresponding peer outlet selector. Multiple temporal multiplexers submit upstream control messages from the access ports to a multi-port master controller. Multiple temporal demultiplexers distribute downstream control messages sent from the master controller to the access ports. Alternatively, the multi-port master controller may connect to selected inlet selectors and corresponding peer outlet selectors for successively receiving upstream control messages and sending downstream control messages. | 10-11-2012 |
20120275463 | High-Capacity Data Switch Employing Contention-Free Switch Modules - A scalable router-switch that grows from a capacity of a few gigabits per second to hundreds of terabits per second is disclosed. In one embodiment, the router-switch comprises a plurality of switch units arranged in a plurality of combinations. Within each combination, each switch unit cyclically connects to each other switch unit to form a contention-free temporal mesh. Each switch unit belongs to a number of combinations and any two combinations have at most one switch unit in common. The router-switch further includes a distributed-control system which comprises an outer controller associated with each of the switch units and an inner controller associated with each combination. The structural simplicity significantly simplifies the operation and control of the router-switch. | 11-01-2012 |
20130045009 | Time-Coherent Global Network Employing Spectral Routers - A network of global coverage, scalable to an access capacity of hundreds of petabits per second, is configured as independent bufferless switches with spectral routers connecting edge nodes to the switches. The switches are logically arranged in at least one matrix, the spectral routers are logically arranged into a matrix of upstream spectral routers and a matrix of downstream spectral routers. Each edge node has a link to an upstream spectral router in each column of the matrix of upstream spectral routers and a link from a downstream spectral router in each row of the matrix of downstream spectral routers. Preferably, all sets of edge nodes connecting to the upstream spectral routers are selected to be mutually orthogonal. Each switch is coupled to a respective switch controller and a respective time indicator. Each switch controller entrains time indicators of a set of subtending edge nodes to enable coherent switching. | 02-21-2013 |
20130201994 | Packet-Switching Node with Inner Flow Equalization - Independent switches arranged into multiple switch planes interconnect nodes coupled to data sources and sinks to form a switching node which scales gracefully from a capacity of a fraction of a terabit per second to hundreds of terabits per second. The switches of each switch plane are arranged in a matrix. Each node connects to an inlet of a selected switch in each column and an outlet of a selected switch in each row in each switch plane. A route set for each directed node pair includes simple paths, each traversing one switch, and compound paths, each traversing two switches. The connectivity of nodes to switches ensures that each switch may be selected to handle data flow of any directed node pair and that all simple paths leading to any node traverse switches which receive data from mutually orthogonal sets of nodes. This feature equalizes flow rates through the switches. | 08-08-2013 |
20140064144 | Switching System Employing Independent Data Switches Connecting Orthogonal Sets of Nodes - A switching system formed of a number of nodes interfacing with external network elements and interconnected through a number of independent switches is disclosed. The switches are arranged into a set of primary switches, a set of secondary switches, and a set of tertiary switches and each node connects to a respective primary switch, a respective secondary switch, and a respective tertiary switch. The connection pattern of nodes to switches is selected so that any set of nodes connecting to any primary switch, any set of nodes connecting to any secondary switch, and any set of nodes connecting to any tertiary switch are mutually orthogonal. A distributed control system sets a path from any node to any other node traversing at most two switches. The switching system may serve as a large-scale data-switching center or a geographically distributed network. | 03-06-2014 |
20140086239 | Large-Scale Packet Switch - A packet switch that scales gracefully from a capacity of a fraction of a terabit per second to thousands of terabits per second is disclosed. The packet switch comprises edge nodes interconnected by independent switch units. The switch units are arranged in a matrix having multiple rows and multiple columns and may comprise instantaneous or latent space switches. Each edge node has a channel to a switch unit in each column and a channel from each switch unit in a selected column. A simple path traversing only one of the switch units may be established from each edge node to each other edge node. Where needed, a compound path comprising at most two simple paths may be established for any edge-node pair. In a preferred configuration, the switch units connect at input to orthogonal sets of edge nodes. A distributed control system expedites connection-request processing. | 03-27-2014 |
20140269907 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SIGNAL ENCODING REALIZING OPTIMAL FIDELITY - Methods of optimal encoding of signals to be compatible with characteristics of target receivers while meeting constraints pertinent to sizes of encoded signals or capacities of paths communicating signals to the target receivers are disclosed. The methods are based on analytical modeling of the encoding process guided by experimental data relating measured performance indicators of encoded signals of diverse classifications to respective encoding parameters. A computationally-efficient technique is devised to determine optimal encoding parameters based on pre-processed data derived from the analytical models. The methods may be implemented at an encoder of original signals or a transcoder of pre-encoded signals. | 09-18-2014 |
20140270718 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SIGNAL ENCODING PRODUCING ENCODED SIGNALS OF HIGH FIDELITY AT MINIMAL SIZES - Methods and apparatus for determining encoding parameters of an encoder or a transcoder which yield an encoded signal of optimal measurable properties are disclosed. For a video signal, the encoding parameters may include quantization granularity, a measure of display resolution, and a frame rate. The measurable properties of an encoded signal may include a fidelity index, a relative size, and a relative flow rate. Reference data records quantifying properties of sample signals encoded according to experimental sets of encoding parameters are used to define parameters of conjectured analytical functions characterizing the encoding or transcoding functions. The analytical functions are then used to generate granular tables of estimated measures of encoded-signal properties. A fast search mechanism relies on the granular tables, together with sorted arrangements of the granular tables, to determine, in real-time, preferred encoding parameters for multimedia data streams received at an encoder or a transcoder. | 09-18-2014 |
20140307745 | RATE-CONTROLLED OPTICAL BURST SWITCHING - The invention provides a method and network communication equipment for low latency loss-free burst switching. Burst-transfer schedules are determined by controllers of bufferless core nodes according to specified bitrate allocations and distributed to respective edge nodes. In a composite-star network, burst schedules are initiated by any core node. Burst formation takes place at source edge nodes and a permissible burst size is determined according to an allocated bitrate of a burst stream to which the burst belongs. The permissible burst size is subject to constraints such as permissible burst-formation delay, a minimum guard-time requirement, and permissible delay jitter. A method of control-burst exchange between each edge node and each bufferless core node enables burst scheduling, time coordination, and loss-free burst switching. Both the payload bursts and control bursts are carried by optical channels connecting the edge nodes and the core notes. | 10-16-2014 |
20140321324 | Petabits-per-second Packet Switch Employing Cyclically Interconnected Switch Units - A packet switching system of an access capacity scalable to multiple petabits per second is disclosed. A multiplicity of switch units, each of a relatively small dimension, is organized into orthogonal sets of switch units and the switch units of each set are cyclically interconnected through a respective dual rotator. Each switch unit has a contention-free switching mechanism and is coupled to a same number of dual rotators. Each switch unit has a switch-unit controller configured to route data received from external data sources to external data sinks coupled to any other switch unit by communicating with at most one switch-unit controller of an intermediate switch unit. | 10-30-2014 |
20140321852 | MODULAR HIGH-CAPACITY SWITCH - A modular optical switch includes a set of optical switch modules connected in a mesh, a master controller for the whole optical node and a switch-module controller for each of the optical switch modules. The optical switch modules receive optical signals from, and transmit optical signals to, edge nodes based on connection requests received from the edge nodes. The master controller acts to select a path, using a simple or compound time-slot matching process, through the mesh of switch modules for each optical signal related to a connection request. Advantageously, the optical switch modules are fast switching, enabling the use of time-sharing schemes such as TDM, and the modular optical core node is made practical by efficient path selection at the master controller. A hybrid modular switch may include both optical and electronic switch modules, a master controller, and a switch-module controller for each of the switch modules. | 10-30-2014 |
20140321853 | Network with a Fast-Switching Optical Core Providing Widely Varying Flow-rate Allocations - Multiple switch planes, each having meshed bufferless switch units, connect source nodes to sink nodes to form a communications network. Each directed pair of source and sink nodes has a first-order path traversing a single switch unit in a corresponding switch plane and multiple second-order paths each traversing two switch units in one of the remaining switch planes. To reduce processing effort and minimize requisite switching hardware, connectivity patterns of source nodes and sink nodes to the switch planes are selected so that each pair of source node and sink node connects only once to a common switch unit. Widely-varying flow rates may be allocated from each source node to the sink nodes. To handle frequent changes of flow-rate allocations, in order to follow variations of traffic distribution, a high-throughput scheduling system employing coordinated multiple scheduler units is provided in each switch plane. | 10-30-2014 |
20140362737 | STATE INFORMATION AND ROUTING TABLE UPDATES IN LARGE SCALE DATA NETWORKS - In a communication network comprising nodes and links between the nodes, a controller node disseminates link state information. A nodal routing table exists at each node comprising routes between pairs of nodes. The nodal routing table is either populated by the given node based on network information received from the controlling node or populated at the controlling node and received by the given node. Each node receives heartbeat signals from its neighbouring nodes. An unexpected delay between heartbeat signals may be perceived as a failure of a link. The perceived failure of that link is reported by the perceiving node to the controlling node. Upon receiving link failure information from a node, the controlling node may determine a subset of nodes in the network influenced by the link failure and indicate the link failure to the determined subset of influenced nodes. | 12-11-2014 |
20150139302 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SIGNAL ENCODING REALIZING OPTIMAL FIDELITY - Methods of optimal encoding of signals to be compatible with characteristics of target receivers while meeting constraints pertinent to sizes of encoded signals or capacities of paths communicating signals to the target receivers are disclosed. The methods are based on analytical modeling of the encoding process guided by experimental data relating measured performance indicators of encoded signals of diverse classifications to respective encoding parameters. A computationally-efficient technique is devised to determine optimal encoding parameters based on pre-processed data derived from the analytical models. The methods may be implemented at an encoder of original signals or a transcoder of pre-encoded signals. | 05-21-2015 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080317015 | LARGE-SCALE PACKET SWITCH - A packet switch that scales gracefully from a capacity of a fraction of a terabit per second to thousands of terabits per second is disclosed. The packet switch comprises edge nodes interconnected by independent switch units. The switch units are arranged in a matrix having multiple rows and multiple columns and may comprise instantaneous or latent space switches. Each edge node has a channel to a switch unit in each column and a channel from each switch unit in a selected column. A simple path traversing only one of the switch units may be established from each edge node to each other edge node. Where needed, a compound path comprising at most two simple paths may be established for any edge-node pair. In a preferred configuration, the switch units connect at input to orthogonal sets of edge nodes. A distributed control system expedites connection-request processing. | 12-25-2008 |
20080317016 | LARGE-SCALE PACKET SWITCH - A switching node comprises edge nodes interconnected by independent switch units. The switch units are arranged in at least one switch plane and the switch units of each switch plane are arranged in a matrix having several rows and several columns. Each edge node has a channel to a switch unit in each column in each switch plane and a channel from each switch unit in a selected column in each switch plane. Simple paths, each traversing only one switch unit in a switch plane, may be established for any directed edge-node pair. Additionally, several non-intersecting compound paths, each comprising at most two simple paths, may be established for any edge-node pair. A significant proportion of traffic may be routed through simple paths. The switching node employs distributed control scheme and scales gracefully from a capacity of a fraction of a terabit per second to thousands of terabits per second. | 12-25-2008 |
20100284401 | Large-Scale Packet Switch - A packet switch that scales gracefully from a capacity of a fraction of a terabit per second to thousands of terabits per second is disclosed. The packet switch comprises edge nodes interconnected by independent switch units. The switch units are arranged in a matrix having multiple rows and multiple columns and may comprise instantaneous or latent space switches. Each edge node has a channel to a switch unit in each column and a channel from each switch unit in a selected column. A simple path traversing only one of the switch units may be established from each edge node to each other edge node. Where needed, a compound path comprising at most two simple paths may be established for any edge-node pair. In a preferred configuration, the switch units connect at input to orthogonal sets of edge nodes. A distributed control system expedites connection-request processing. | 11-11-2010 |
20110026541 | LARGE-SCALE PACKET SWITCH - A switching node comprises edge nodes interconnected by independent switch units. The switch units are arranged in at least one switch plane and the switch units of each switch plane are arranged in a matrix having several rows and several columns. Each edge node has a channel to a switch unit in each column in each switch plane and a channel from each switch unit in a selected column in each switch plane. Simple paths, each traversing only one switch unit in a switch plane, may be established for any directed edge-node pair. Additionally, several non-intersecting compound paths, each comprising at most two simple paths, may be established for any edge-node pair. A significant proportion of traffic may be routed through simple paths. The switching node employs distributed control scheme and scales gracefully from a capacity of a fraction of a terabit per second to thousands of terabits per second. | 02-03-2011 |