Optical packet-switched ring network with flexible bandwidth allocation

We propose a novel architecture, MAC protocol and admission control for high-capacity packet-switched ring networks. Nodes access the entire link capacity by transmitting and receiving packets in parallel on all available wavelengths. Packets are added to and dropped from the ring by 2/spl times/2 optical switches. The network control is simple since the load is balanced over the wavelengths at the physical layer. The proposed MAC protocol is based on credits. The admission control algorithm requires minimal processing complexity, and can follow fast traffic changes typical in data networks.