HYBRID OPTICAL SHARED PROTECTION RING

摘要

A wavelength add drop multiplexer (WADM) has a unique 4X4 switching matrix configuration that is capable of supporting a 2-fiber ring architecture. A first 4X4 switching matrix is optically coupled to a first incoming fiber carrying a first incoming optical transport signal of n channels (OTSn) and a second incoming fiber carrying a second incoming OTSn. The first 4X4 switching matrix routes a working channel of the first incoming OTSn and a protection channel of the second incoming OTSn based on a desired switching configuration. The WADM further includes a second 4X4 switching matrix optically coupled to the first incoming fiber and the second incoming fiber. The second 4X4 switching matrix routes a protection channel of the first incoming OTSn and a working channel of the second incoming OTSn based on the desired switching configuration. The WADM also has a control system for establishing the switching configuration of the matrices. Routing working traffic and protection traffic from a single fiber to a pair of 4X4 switching matrices ultimately allows for simultaneous protection from multi-channel failures and single channel failures.