Elastic client interface for tunable optical transponder

摘要

There are provided an optical transponder having a first end and a second end, as well as an electric switch having the transponder. The transponder includes an optical interface, at the first end, having a variable rate optical transmitter and a variable rate optical receiver to respectively transmit and receive signals using at least one of different bandwidths and different bit rates. The transponder further includes an electrical interface, at the second end, having an electrical interface throughput matching an optical capacity of the optical interface. The transponder also includes a processor for controlling the optical capacity.

主权项

1. An optical transponder having a first end and a second end, the transponder comprising:
an optical interface, at the first end, having a variable rate optical transmitter and a variable rate optical receiver to respectively transmit and receive signals using at least one of different bandwidths and different bit rates; an electrical interface, at the second end, having an electrical interface throughput matching an optical capacity of the optical interface; and a processor for controlling the optical capacity the processor having an internal buffer to adapt to a variable optical rate; wherein the electrical interface throughput adjustment for the electrical interface is based on the optical capacity; wherein the electrical interface throughput is adjusted using a flow control function that sends a disabling signal for disabling packet reception when a buffer usage is above a first threshold and sends an enabling signal for enabling packet reception when the buffer usage is below a second threshold.