Abstract: A routing protocol, the routing protocol includes the steps of: receiving a packet at an ingress node of a distributed router, the ingress node having an ingress node address, and the packet having a packet header containing a global destination address; converting the global destination address into a local destination address, the local destination address identifying a location on the distributed router; and routing the packet to the local destination address.

Abstract: A routing protocol, the routing protocol includes the steps of: receiving a packet at an ingress node of a distributed router, the ingress node having an ingress node address, and the packet having a packet header containing a global destination address; converting the global destination address into a local destination address, the local destination address identifying a location on the distributed router; and routing the packet to the local destination address.

Abstract: An L-dimensional optoelectronic switch for transferring an optical signal from an input device to an output device, the optoelectronic switch includes: a plurality of leaf switches, each having a radix R, and arranged in an L-dimensional array, in which each dimension i has a respective size Ri (i=1, 2, . . . , L), each leaf switch having an associated L-tuple of co-ordinates (x1, . . .

Abstract: A system and method for routing. A packet includes a stack of one or more headers, such as a stack of Multiprotocol Label Switching headers, that determines the path that the packet will take, through a sequence of switches, from its source to its destination. Each header in the stack contains an output port identifier that identifies an output port of a corresponding switch in the path. Each switch, upon receiving the packet, removes the first header to form a shortened packet, and routes the shortened packet to the output port identified by the output port identifier.

Abstract: A switch module and optoelectronic switch incorporating the same. The optoelectronic switch includes an N-dimensional array of switch modules arranged in a topology in which each switch module is a member of N sub-arrays, the sub-arrays defined with reference to the coordinates of the constituent switch modules, and wherein all of the members of each sub-array are connected by an active switch, which in some embodiments may be an optical active switch or an electronic active switch.

Abstract: A system and method for line coding of data. A serial transmitter includes a forward error correction encoding circuit followed by a bit conditioning circuit. The bit conditioning circuit counts the lengths of runs of consecutive identical digits and, when the count reaches a threshold, flips a bit. A serial receiver receives the data from the serial transmitter. The serial receiver includes a forward error correction decoding circuit, which re-flips bits flipped by the bit conditioning circuit of the serial transmitter.

Abstract: An optoelectronic switch for transferring a signal from an input device for an output device, the optoelectronic switch including: a plurality of leaf switches, each having a radix R, and arranged in an L-dimensional array, in which the i-th dimension has a size Ri where (i=1, 2, . . . , L) and for a reduced dimension, Ri is less than for all of the other dimensions, each leaf switch having an associated L-tuple of coordinates (x1, . . . , xL) giving its location with respect to each of the L dimensions; wherein each leaf switch is a member of L sub-arrays, each of the L sub-arrays associated with a different one of the L dimensions, and including: a plurality of Ri leaf switches whose coordinates differ only in respect of the i-th dimension, each leaf switch having C client ports for connecting to an input device or an output device.

Abstract: An L-dimensional optoelectronic switch for transferring an optical signal from an input device to an output device, the optoelectronic switch includes: a plurality of leaf switches, each having a radix R, and arranged in an L-dimensional array, in which each dimension i has a respective size Ri (i=1, 2, . . . , L), each leaf switch having an associated L-tuple of co-ordinates (x1, . . .

Abstract: An optoelectronic switch comprising: a first plurality of detector remodulators (DRMs) (C3, D1), each DRM having an integer number M of optical inputs and an integer number N of optical outputs; a second plurality of DRMs (C7, D5), each DRM having N optical inputs and M optical outputs; a passive optical switch fabric (C4+C5+C6, D2+D3+D4) connecting the N optical outputs of each of the first plurality of DRMs with the N optical inputs of each of the second plurality of DRMs, the path of an optical signal through the optical switch fabric depending upon its wavelength; wherein each DRM (C3, D1) of the first plurality of DRMs is configured to act as a tunable wavelength converter to select the desired path of an optical signal through the optical switch fabric (C4+C5+C6, D2+D3+D4); and wherein each of the first plurality of DRMs (C3, D1) includes a concentrator, the concentrator configured to aggregate optical signals received from any of the M inputs of that DRM and to buffer them according to the one of the p

Abstract: A system and method for measuring propagation delays and other delays in an optical switching system. A transmitter is connected, through a circuit switch, to a receiver. To measure the propagation delay between the transmitter and the receiver, the transmitter sends one or more time-tagged ranging messages and the receiver calculates a propagation delay from the difference between the time of receipt and the time of transmission. In another embodiment, a time delay between message transmission and transition of a CDR of the receiver to a fast acquisition mode is adjusted, by trial and error, to find a range of such time delays for which transmission is successful. A time delay between the transmitter and the switch is measured by establishing or breaking the connection and determining, for various tentative time delay values, whether transmission succeeds.

Abstract: An optoelectronic switch comprising: a first plurality of detector remodulators (DRMs) (C3, D1), each DRM having an integer number M of optical inputs and an integer number N of optical outputs; a second plurality of DRMs (C7, D5), each DRM having N optical inputs and M optical outputs; a passive optical switch fabric (C4+C5+C6, D2+D3+D4) connecting the N optical outputs of each of the first plurality of DRMs with the N optical inputs of each of the second plurality of DRMs, the path of an optical signal through the optical switch fabric depending upon its wavelength; wherein each DRM (C3, D1) of the first plurality of DRMs is configured to act as a tunable wavelength converter to select the desired path of an optical signal through the optical switch fabric (C4+C5+C6, D2+D3+D4); and wherein each of the first plurality of DRMs (C3, D1) includes a concentrator, the concentrator configured to aggregate optical signals received from any of the M inputs of that DRM and to buffer them according to the one of the p

Abstract: The present invention provides an optoelectronic switch for transferring an optical signal from an input device to an output device, the optoelectronic switch including an array of interconnected switch modules, which are interconnected by an interconnecting fabric. The switch modules are arranged in an N-dimensional array, the ith dimension having a size Ri (i=1, 2, . . . , N), each switch module having an associated set of coordinates giving its location with respect to each of the N dimensions. Each switch module is a member of N such sub-arrays Si, each sub-array Si comprising Ri switch modules whose coordinates differ only in respect of their location in the ith dimension, and each of the N sub-arrays being associated with a different dimension.

Abstract: A switch module and optoelectronic switch incorporating the same. The optoelectronic switch includes an N-dimensional array of switch modules arranged in a topology in which each switch module is a member of N sub-arrays, the sub-arrays defined with reference to the coordinates of the constituent switch modules, and wherein all of the members of each sub-array are connected by an active switch, which in some embodiments may be an optical active switch or an electronic active switch.

Abstract: An optoelectronic switch comprising: a first plurality of detector remodulators (DRMs) (C3, D1), each DRM having an integer number M of optical inputs and an integer number N of optical outputs; a second plurality of DRMs (C7, D5), each DRM having N optical inputs and M optical outputs; a passive optical switch fabric (C4+C5+C6, D2+D3+D4) connecting the N optical outputs of each of the first plurality of DRMs with the N optical inputs of each of the second plurality of DRMs, the path of an optical signal through the optical switch fabric depending upon its wavelength; wherein each DRM (C3, D1) of the first plurality of DRMs is configured to act as a tunable wavelength converter to select the desired path of an optical signal through the optical switch fabric (C4+C5+C6, D2+D3+D4); and wherein each of the first plurality of DRMs (C3, D1) includes a concentrator, the concentrator configured to aggregate optical signals received from any of the M inputs of that DRM and to buffer them according to the one of the p

Abstract: A system and method for measuring propagation delays and other delays in an optical switching system. A transmitter is connected, through a circuit switch, to a receiver. To measure the propagation delay between the transmitter and the receiver, the transmitter sends one or more time-tagged ranging messages and the receiver calculates a propagation delay from the difference between the time of receipt and the time of transmission. In another embodiment, a time delay between message transmission and transition of a CDR of the receiver to a fast acquisition mode is adjusted, by trial and error, to find a range of such time delays for which transmission is successful. A time delay between the transmitter and the switch is measured by establishing or breaking the connection and determining, for various tentative time delay values, whether transmission succeeds.

Abstract: The present invention provides an optoelectronic switch for transferring an optical signal from an input device to an output device, the optoelectronic switch including an array of interconnected switch modules, which are interconnected by an interconnecting fabric. The switch modules are arranged in an N-dimensional array, the ith dimension having a size Ri (i=1, 2, . . . , N), each switch module having an associated set of coordinates giving its location with respect to each of the N dimensions. Each switch module is a member of N such sub-arrays Si, each sub-array Si comprising Ri switch modules whose coordinates differ only in respect of their location in the ith dimension, and each of the N sub-arrays being associated with a different dimension.

Abstract: A system and method for line coding of data. A serial transmitter includes a forward error correction encoding circuit followed by a bit conditioning circuit. The bit conditioning circuit counts the lengths of runs of consecutive identical digits and, when the count reaches a threshold, flips a bit. A serial receiver receives the data from the serial transmitter. The serial receiver includes a forward error correction decoding circuit, which re-flips bits flipped by the bit conditioning circuit of the serial transmitter.

Abstract: A switch module and optoelectronic switch incorporating the same. The optoelectronic switch includes an N-dimensional array of switch modules arranged in a topology in which each switch module is a member of N sub-arrays, the sub-arrays defined with reference to the coordinates of the constituent switch modules, and wherein all of the members of each sub-array are connected by an active switch, which in some embodiments may be an optical active switch or an electronic active switch.

Abstract: An optoelectronic switch for transferring a signal from an input device for an output device, the optoelectronic switch including: a plurality of leaf switches, each having a radix R, and arranged in an L-dimensional array, in which the i-th dimension has a size RL where (i=1, 2, . . . , L) and for a reduced dimension, RL is less than for all of the other dimensions, each leaf switch having an associated L-tuple of coordinates (x1, . . . , xL) giving its location with respect to each of the L dimensions; wherein each leaf switch is a member of L sub-arrays, each of the L sub-arrays associated with a different one of the L dimensions, and including: a plurality of RL leaf switches whose coordinates differ only in respect of the i-th dimension, each leaf switch having C client ports for connecting to an input device or an output device.

Abstract: An optoelectronic packet switch comprising: switch input(s) for receiving optical packet signals; a passive optical router; a control unit; and a plurality of detector-remodulators (DRMs) configured to receive signals from the switch input(s) and to generate modulated optical signals for transmission to the input ports of the passive optical router. Each DRM comprising: detector(s) for converting an optical packet-signal received at the switch input(s) into an electrical packet-signal; modulator(s) for generating the modulated optical signals.