HIERARCHICAL SWITCH ARCHITECTURE FOR CORE OPTICAL NETWORKS

摘要

In a WDM optical transport network, numerous optical data signals are multiplexed together to form a single optical system signal. The optical system signal may be constituted in an optical line hierarchy that defines a plurality of optical layers within the optical transport space. In accordance with the present invention, an architectural arrangement is provided for a network switching node within a WDM optical transport network. The architectural arrangement for the network switching node employs at least one switching device at each optical layer. The improved inter-workings amongst the optical layers of the network switching node leads to improved scalability, manageability, operational simplicity and affordability of optical transport networks.