The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 04, 2003
Filed:
Dec. 23, 1999
Peter W. Phelps, Nepean, CA;
Evert E. Deboer, Nepean, CA;
Robert Caporuscio, Montreal, CA;
Johnny Leung, Kirkland, CA;
Paul Charron, St. Lambert, CA;
Louis R. Pare, St. Bruno, CA;
Joseph Olajubu, Essex, GB;
Nortel Networks Limited, St. Laurent, CA;
Abstract
The present invention provides a method of deactivating working fibers in an existing optical ring network or system for a cost-effective and efficient allocation of the fiber resources available in the ring network. When a working fiber is underutilized in an existing ring network, the traffic scheduled for transmission thereon is re-routed around the network away from the fiber and lockouts are applied to prevent the fiber to be removed from being protected. The fiber and associated connecting equipment thus become unused and unnecessary for traffic carrying purposes and can then be deactivated. By eliminating the need for working fibers and associated optics equipment on spans where traffic is low or non-existent, the invention can provide fiber capacity savings of up to fifty percent on each span while retaining full protection usage. According to the invention, the unused fibers and equipment can be removed or alternatively be re-provisioned for use in other network configurations to provide a cost-effective and efficient allocation of the resources available in the network.