Time-space label switched optical networks

In this paper, the architecture of the optical networks based on Time-Space Label (TSL) Switching is described in detail, including Time-Space Label and Time-Space Routing algorithm. The switching mode is more flexible and scalable. The labels can be changed to fit for different kinds of optical switching technologies, such as Optical Circuit Switching (OCS), Optical Burst Switching (OBS) and Optical Packet Switching (OPS). The TSL switching has a very wide range of applications in the optical networks. In the existing signaling protocols of OBS, the routing and the signaling are separated. However, TSL switching combines both of them together. Moreover, the resource reservations are realized in a two-dimension Time-Space plane, and the blocking probability is reduced greatly. The mature electronic processing technologies and the high-speed optical transport are cooperated effectively in the TSL switching. On the other hand, Multi-Granularity (MG) Switching can groom the vast bypass traffic in the optical networks effectively, with which the core nodes are simplified, and the throughput is increased significantly. When MG switching is combined with TSL switching, the performance of the entire network will be improved greatly. A test system built for validating the MG switching based on TSL is described, and the results show the switching performance of different granularities correctly.