Data center interconnections, which encompass WSCs as well as traditional data centers, have become both a bottleneck and a cost/power issue for cloud computing providers, cloud service providers and the users of the cloud generally. Fiber optic technologies already play critical roles in data center operations and will increasingly in the future. The goal is to move data as fast as possible with the lowest latency with the lowest cost and the smallest space consumption on the server blade and throughout the network. Accordingly, it would be beneficial for new fiber optic interconnection architectures to address the traditional hierarchal time-division multiplexed (TDM) routing and interconnection and provide reduced latency, increased flexibility, lower cost, lower power consumption, and provide interconnections exploiting scalable optical modular optically switched interconnection network as well as temporospatial switching fabrics allowing switching speeds below the slowest switching element within the switching fabric.

Constellations of distributors interconnect access nodes to form a vast contiguous network. The access nodes are generally geographically spread and the constellations are generally geographically spread, however the distributors within each constellation are collocated. The access nodes are arranged into access groups. The access nodes of each access group interconnect through selected constellations, with each access node having a wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) link to each of the selected constellations, to form a three-stage network. The three-stage networks corresponding to the access groups are mutually fused so that an access node of any three-stage network has multiple paths, each traversing one distributor, to each other access node of the same three-stage network and a path to each other access node of the entire network traversing one distributor. The distributors are preferable configured as fast optical switches. The network is structured to provide global coverage without the need for conventional cross-connectors.

Today's communications require an effective yet scalable way interconnection of data centers and warehouse scale computers (WSCs) whilst operators must provide a significant portion of data center and WSC applications free of charge to users and consumers. At present, data center operators face the requirement to meet exponentially increasing demand for bandwidth without dramatically increasing the cost and power of the infrastructure employed to satisfy this demand. Simultaneously, consumer expectations of download/upload speeds and latency in accessing content provide additional pressure. Accordingly, the inventors provide a number of optical switching fabrics which reduce the latency and microprocessor loading arising from the prior art Internet Protocol multicasting techniques.

An optical port routing enclosure and programmable NIC card as well as cluster topologies leveraging same are provided.

In certain embodiments, a system includes an optical switch matrix, an optical lens coupled to the switch matrix, and a wireless transmitter coupled to the lens. The switch matrix is configured to switch first optical signals from input ports to output ports of the switch matrix, and output second optical signals that are based at least partially on the first optical signals. The lens is configured to transform wave formats of the second optical signals based on the output ports over which the second optical signals are received. The transmitter includes an antenna array and circuitry coupled to the array. The circuitry is configured to receive the second optical signals from the lens, convert the second optical signals into beamformed wireless signals in accordance with the transformed formats, and transmit the beamformed wireless signals, which signals have spatial characteristics in accordance with the transformed formats, over the array.

Systems and methods to incrementally scale robotic software-defined cross-connects from 100 to more than 100,000 ports are disclosed. A system is comprised of individual cross-connect units that individually scale in increments of say, 96 interconnects in tier 1 to, for example, 1,008 interconnects total. A system comprised of multiple cross-connect units arranged and interconnected in a two-tier approach is disclosed, one which achieves fully non-blocking, any-to-any connectivity with the flexibility to grow incrementally. Methods to build out this system over time, in an incremental and non-service interrupting fashion, are described.

An photonic circuit includes a substrate, a plurality of first light waveguides disposed on the substrate, the first light waveguides extending in a first direction, a plurality of second light waveguides disposed on the substrate and extending in a second direction intersecting the first direction, and a plurality of first micro-ring resonators disposed on the substrate. Each of the first light waveguides has an intersection with each of the second light waveguides. Each of the intersections is provided with a first micro-ring resonator of the first micro-ring resonators. Each first micro-ring resonator is configured to route signals of a respective wavelength from one of the light waveguides at the intersection to another light waveguide at the intersection.

Data center interconnections, which encompass WSCs as well as traditional data centers, have become both a bottleneck and a cost/power issue for cloud computing providers, cloud service providers and the users of the cloud generally. Fiber optic technologies already play critical roles in data center operations and will increasingly in the future. The goal is to move data as fast as possible with the lowest latency with the lowest cost and the smallest space consumption on the server blade and throughout the network. Accordingly, it would be beneficial for new fiber optic interconnection architectures to address the traditional hierarchal time-division multiplexed (TDM) routing and interconnection and provide reduced latency, increased flexibility, lower cost, lower power consumption, and provide interconnections exploiting scalable optical modular optically switched interconnection network as well as temporospatial switching fabrics allowing switching speeds below the slowest switching element within the switching fabric.

A switch for switching a signal between a source client device and a destination client device, the switch includes: a switch module housing unit including a switch module, configured to output a first signal, and a second signal; a shuffle including: a first input, a first output, and a second output, wherein the first input is configured to receive the first signal and the second signal from the switch module, and to direct the first signal to the first output and the second signal to the second output. A switch including a switch module housing unit, including: a first input, a second input, and a first output, wherein the first input is configured to receive a first signal and direct it to the first output, and the second input is configured to receive a second signal and direct it to the first output.

A system, apparatus, and method for an optical grooming network; wherein a set of switches form an optical grooming interconnection system where each switch is communicatively coupled to each other switch; a set of clients; where each switch of the set of switches is communicatively coupled to a client of the clients; wherein each client receiver is enabled to communicate through the set of switches to any client or modem; and a set of coherent optical modems; wherein each coherent optical modem is communicatively coupled to a switch of the set of switches; wherein each client of the clients is able to communicate through the set of switches to every coherent optical modem of the set of coherent optical modems, and each coherent optical modem in the set of coherent optical modems can communicate to every coherent optical modem of the set of coherent optical modems.