Claims
- 1. A system comprising:
a base router having a forwarding table and being coupled with optical links in a connectionless packet-switched network; an optical packet forwarding booster coupled with an input optical link of the base router such that the optical booster processes an optical packet at a line rate of the input optical link contemporaneously with the base router processing the optical packet, the optical booster including a routing cache of forwarding information derived from the forwarding table; an optical space switch coupled with the optical booster such that the optical space switch switches optical packets among the optical links of the base router; and a signaling interface coupled between the base router and the optical booster such that processing of the optical packet in the base router is terminated when an indication that the optical packet is being forwarded by the optical booster is received by the base router.
- 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising an arbiter coupled with the optical booster, the optical space switch and with the signaling interface, to resolve contention for output optical links.
- 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the optical booster further comprises an optical delay element providing an optical packet delay corresponding to a forwarding decision time associated with the arbiter, the optical booster, and the optical space switch.
- 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the optical booster further comprises digital logic to read an address in the optical packet and submit at least a portion of the address to the routing cache.
- 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the routing cache comprises a content-addressable memory.
- 6. The system of claim 3, wherein the optical space switch comprises a nonblocking, asynchronous optical space switch.
- 7. The system of claim 3, wherein the connectionless packet-switched network comprises an Internet Protocol network.
- 8. A method comprising:
receiving an optical signal defining a packet of data; initiating electronic routing of the packet, the electronic routing comprising converting the optical signal to an electronic signal, identifying a routing field in the packet, and forwarding the packet based on the routing field and a forwarding table; and initiating optical routing of the packet, the optical routing comprising determining forwarding information based on the routing field in the packet, and if optical forwarding is available,
terminating the electronic routing of the packet before completion of the electronic routing, and forwarding the optical signal, which defines the packet, based on the determined forwarding information.
- 9. The method of claim 8, wherein determining forwarding information comprises:
generating a second electronic signal, comprising the routing field, from at least a portion of the optical signal; and checking a memory for the forwarding information.
- 10. The method of claim 8, further comprising, if the forwarding information indicates availability of optical forwarding, optically modifying the optical signal defining the packet before forwarding the optical signal.
- 11. The method of claim 10, wherein optically modifying the optical signal defining the packet comprises optically decrementing a time-to-live field in the packet.
- 12. The method of claim 10, wherein optically modifying the optical signal defining the packet comprises optically replacing a field in the packet.
- 13. The method of claim 8, wherein the forwarding information comprises references to a primary output port and an alternate output port, and wherein forwarding the optical signal comprises:
selecting the primary output port if available; and selecting the alternate output port if the primary output port is unavailable.
- 14. A system comprising:
a base router having a forwarding table, being coupled with optical links in a network, and providing an optoelectronic channel for optical packets in the network; means for optically forwarding an optical packet conforming to a connectionless network-layer protocol, and not a connection-oriented network-layer protocol; and means for selectively closing the optoelectronic channel for the optical packet based on output from the means for optically forwarding.
- 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the means for optically forwarding comprises means for selectively forwarding the optical packet to one of a primary optical port and an alternate optical port.
- 16. The system of claim 14, further comprising means for optically modifying the optical packet according to the connectionless network-layer protocol.
- 17. The system of claim 16, wherein the means for optically modifying the optical packet comprises means for optically decrementing a time-to-live field in the optical packet.
- 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the connectionless network-layer protocol comprises Internet Protocol.
- 19. A method comprising:
inserting an optical router into paths of multiple high-speed optical interfaces of an electronic router; and coupling the optical router with the electronic router such that the electronic router processes optical packets in parallel with the optical router and functions as a backup forwarding device for the optical router.
- 20. The method of claim 19, wherein coupling the optical router with the electronic router further comprises coupling the optical router with the electronic router such that the electronic router provides routing cache updates to the optical router, and terminates processing of an optical packet when an indication that the optical packet is being forward by the optical router is received.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of the priority of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/334,673, filed Nov. 15, 2001 and entitled “METHOD TO FORWARD INTERNET PACKETS WITHOUT CONVERSION FROM AN OPTICAL TO AN ELECTRONIC FORMAT”.
STATEMENT AS TO FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH
[0002] The invention described herein was made in the performance of work under Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contract #MDA972-99-C-0022, and is subject to the provisions of Public Law 96-517 (35 U.S.C. 202) in which the contractor has elected to retain title.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60334673 |
Nov 2001 |
US |