A method and an apparatus for hot standby of controllers in distributed protection are provided. In some embodiments, the method includes: through an actuator, receiving a message transmitted from each of the controllers; determining the messages transmitted in response to a same fault according to a serial number of each message, maintaining a master-standby relationship of each of the controllers through the messages transmitted in response to the same fault; and executing a corresponding operation according to a message transmitted from a master controller; and in a protocol steady state, performing a master-standby switching if it is determined that a switching condition is met.

A network switching system and method and a computer program product for operating a network switch are disclosed. The network switch includes a multitude of input ports and a multitude of output ports. In one embodiment, one processing device is assigned to each of the input ports and output ports to process data packets received at the input ports and transferred to the output ports. In one embodiment, the method comprises creating an intermediate adjustable configuration of processing devices functionally between the input ports and the output ports, and assigning the processing devices of the intermediate configuration to forward the data packets from the input ports to the output ports to obtain a balance between latency and synchronization of the transfer of the data packets from the input ports to the output ports. In an embodiment, software is used to create and to adjust dynamically the intermediate configuration.

A large-scale switching system deployed as a global network or a large-scale data center includes a large number of access nodes (edge nodes) interconnected through optical or electronic rotators. The rotators are logically arranged in a matrix and each access node has a channel to each rotator in a respective row and a channel from each rotator of a respective column of the matrix. A dual timing circuit coupled to a diagonal rotator pair exchanges timing data with edge nodes connecting to the diagonal rotator pair to facilitate temporal alignment of data received at input ports of each rotator. Each access node has a path to each other access node traversing only one of the rotators. The rotators may be arranged into constellations of collocated rotators to facilitate connectivity of access nodes to rotators using wavelength-division-multiplexed links.

A photonic frame switching method and system. The photonic frame switching method includes resetting, by a second input module receiving a master notification, a second timeslot counter used in the second input module to be synchronized with a first timeslot counter used in a first input module, and transmitting a photonic frame from each of a plurality of input modules to a photonic switch fabric device according to a timeslot allocated to each of the input modules based on a scheduling acknowledgement signal transmitted from a main controller, based on the synchronized first and second timeslot counters.

Network devices and associated methods are provided for synchronization in an optically switched network. The network device includes one or more ports in communication with a plurality of devices via an optical switch. The one or more ports receive a master clock signal having a first frequency from a first device of the plurality of devices. The network device includes a local clock in communication with the one or more ports and operating at a second frequency. The network device includes a synchronization manager in communication with the one or more ports and the local clock and configured to be enabled and disabled. When the synchronization manager is enabled, it receives the master clock signal via the one or more ports and transmits an instruction to the local clock to operate at the first frequency.

A photonic frame switching system may include a main controller and at least one photonic frame wrapper line card. The main controller may determine a point in time at which a photonic frame wrapper line card transmits a photonic frame by allocating a time slot to the photonic frame wrapper line card. When the photonic frame switching system includes a plurality of photonic frame wrapper line cards, points in times at which the plurality of photonic frame wrapper line cards transmits the photonic frames may be synchronized. In particular, when a portion of the plurality of photonic frame wrapper line cards transmit a plurality of photonic frames having different destinations, points in times at to which all of the plurality of photonic frame wrapper line cards transmits the photonic frames may be adjusted based on a latency by a destination change.

A network switching system and method and a computer program product for operating a network switch are disclosed. The network switch includes a multitude of input ports and a multitude of output ports. In one embodiment, one processing device is assigned to each of the input ports and output ports to process data packets received at the input ports and transferred to the output ports. In one embodiment, the method comprises creating an intermediate adjustable configuration of processing devices functionally between the input ports and the output ports, and assigning the processing devices of the intermediate configuration to forward the data packets from the input ports to the output ports to obtain a balance between latency and synchronization of the transfer of the data packets from the input ports to the output ports. In an embodiment, software is used to create and to adjust dynamically the intermediate configuration.

A spectral-temporal connector interconnects a large number of nodes in a full-mesh structure. Each node connects to the spectral-temporal connector through a dual link. Signals occupying multiple spectral bands carried by a link from a node are de-multiplexed into separate spectral bands individually directed to different connector modules. Each connector module has a set temporal rotators and a set of spectral multiplexers. A temporal rotator cyclically distributes segments of each signal at each inlet of the rotator to each outlet of the rotator. Each spectral multiplexer combines signals occupying different spectral bands at outlets of the set of temporal rotators onto a respective output link. Several arrangements for time-aligning all the nodes to the connector modules are disclosed.

It is an object to provide a technique capable of using a single framer as a necessary framer and causing the framer to be shared among a plurality of transmission destinations and priorities when coping with a plurality of transmission destinations or priorities and a change in a bandwidth of a physical lane that is caused by a change in a modulation scheme or a change in the number of wavelengths. A multilane transmission device that allocates client signals based on a transmission destination or a priority, decides the number of virtual lanes necessary for transmission of the client signals allocated based on each transmission destination or each priority, allocates the client signals allocated based on each transmission destination or each priority to the virtual lanes whose number has been decided, and frames the client signals allocated to the virtual lanes as transport frames, multiplexes the virtual lanes into a physical lane, and transmits the framed transport frames by using the physical lane.

The present disclosure relates to a system having a plurality of electronic devices interconnected by way of dielectric waveguides. In some embodiments, the system has a plurality of electronic devices respectively including a data element and a transceiver element. The data element has a plurality of terminals configured to respectively output and receive data. The transceiver is configured to transmit or receive the data as a wireless signal that distinctly identifies data from different ones of the plurality of terminals. A shared resource component has a shared transceiver configured to generate a shared wireless signal that transmits a shared signal to the plurality of electronic devices by way of a plurality of dielectric waveguides. Respective ones of the plurality of dielectric waveguides are disposed between the shared resource component and one of the plurality of electronic devices.