| 摘要 |
We disclose a hybrid optical switch configured to switch optical channels based on their respective utilization factors. In an example embodiment, optical channels having relatively low utilization factors are unwrapped down to payload units, which are then switched electrically, e.g., using an Optical-Transport-Network (OTN) switch, in a manner that tends to increase the utilization factors of the optical channels that carry the switched payload units. In contrast, optical channels having relatively high utilization factors are switched optically, e.g., using a reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer, without being unwrapped. The hybrid optical switch may advantageously be deployed in a network node subjected to relatively high traffic-volume fluctuations because the switch tends to improve optical-channel utilization when the traffic volume is relatively low and to decrease the workload of the corresponding OTN switch when the traffic volume is relatively high. |
