JP2012252099A - Optical communication line switching device and optical communication line switching method using the same device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent occurrence of an instantaneous interruption even with the occurrence of a physical disconnection due to switching of optical fiber connection.SOLUTION: A bypass optical fiber 2 is a currently-used optical line optical fiber 1 using a pair of lateral light input-output mechanisms 3 and 3' inputting and outputting an optical signal to and from the currently-used optical line optical fiber 1. The bypass optical fiber 2 allows intervention of: an optical switching mechanism 5 for interrupting/opening the optical communication; an optical amplification mechanism 6 for amplifying the optical signal; and optical monitor mechanisms 8 and 8' for checking whether optical communication has been established via the bypass optical fiber 2. The currently-used optical line optical fiber 1 allows intervention of an optical temporary interruption mechanism 4 for temporarily interrupting the optical communication and a fiber disconnection mechanism 7 for disconnecting the currently-used optical line optical fiber 1. These individual mechanisms are controlled by a control device 10, which obtains, via a communication mechanism 11, a clock-time when no signal is transmitted from a station-side transmission device, and disconnects the optical fiber 1 at the clock-time.

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical communication line switching device for performing line switching in trouble relocation work or the like of an optical communication line, and an optical communication line switching method using the switching device.

  In an optical communication system using an optical line using an optical fiber cable, line switching work for switching a connector connection part of an active optical line to a new optical line is performed. As an optical line switching technology that has already been put into practical use, optical fiber cable switching connection systems aiming at shortening of borrowing time and switching work period are disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2, Patent Document 3, Patent Document 4, and Non-Patent Documents. It is proposed in Document 1.

  However, the technique based on the above proposal is to switch the optical fiber (medium) from the working optical line to the detour optical line, and physical disconnection is inevitable, and a momentary interruption of about 30 ms occurs when the line is switched. . Thus, in order to avoid a service interruption in which communication is interrupted due to a momentary interruption, the leased line needs to be borrowed in advance on the leased line, and this borrowing adjustment has a problem that a lot of operations are required. In addition, there is a problem that it cannot be applied when not connected by a connector.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 01-230309 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 01-144004 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 03-064710 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 03-268630

Kobayashi, NTT Technical Journal, August 1990, pp.15-17, 1990 Nado et al., High-performance optical fiber side-incidence method, 2011 IEICE General Conference Proceedings, p324, 2011

  As described above, in the conventional optical communication line switching technology, the optical fiber (medium) is switched from the working line to the detour line, so physical disconnection is unavoidable, and a momentary interruption of about 30 ms occurs. Therefore, there is a problem that service interruption occurs due to communication interruption.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above circumstances, and uses an optical communication line switching device and an optical communication line switching device that can prevent instantaneous interruption even when physical disconnection occurs due to medium connection change. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical communication line switching method.

The optical communication line switching apparatus according to the present invention has the following configuration.
(1) In an optical communication line switching device for switching a working optical line optical fiber to another new optical line optical fiber, a pair of side light input / output means for inputting / outputting optical signals to / from the working optical line optical fiber; A detour optical fiber connected to the pair of side light input / output mechanisms, an optical switching means interposed in the detour optical fiber for blocking and opening the optical communication, and the detour optical fiber An optical amplifying means for amplifying an optical signal intervened; an optical monitoring means for confirming whether optical communication is established in the bypass optical fiber; and an optical communication medium interposed in the working optical line optical fiber. Light temporarily blocking means, fiber cutting means for cutting the working optical line optical fiber, the pair of side light input / output means, the light temporary blocking means, and the optical monitor Stage, the optical amplification unit, and said optical switching means, and aspects and control means for controlling said fiber cutting means each operation.

  (2) In the apparatus of (1), after the pair of side light input / output means is connected to the working optical line optical fiber, the control means opens the optical communication at the same time as the optical switching means. Temporarily shutting off the optical communication of the working optical line optical fiber to the temporary blocking means, confirming the opening from the monitoring result of the optical monitoring means and increasing the amplification factor of the optical amplifying means to reduce the loss due to the bypass connection And finally the fiber cutting means cuts the working optical line optical fiber.

  (3) In the apparatus of (1), signal light is transmitted / received between the station-side transmission apparatus and the subscriber-side transmission apparatus facing the working optical line optical fiber, and the station-side transmission apparatus transmits a frame of the signal light. In the case of having a communication timing management function for managing communication timing based on a round trip time measurement value, the communication device further includes a communication unit for transmitting and receiving communication status data to and from the station side transmission device, The time when no signal is transmitted from the station-side transmission device through the communication means is acquired, and the fiber cutting means is made to cut the working optical line optical fiber at that time.

(4) In the apparatus of (1), an optical repeater having respective functions is used for the optical switching means and the optical amplification means.
Moreover, the optical communication line switching method according to the present invention has the following configuration.
(5) The opposite station-side transmission device and subscriber-side transmission device transmit and receive signal light via the working optical line optical fiber, and the frame round-trip time between the station-side transmission device and the subscriber-side transmission device In an optical communication line switching method for switching an active optical line optical fiber to a new optical line optical fiber, used in an optical communication system having a communication timing management function for managing communication timing based on a measured value, the active optical line An optical fiber switching point for the new optical line optical fiber is constructed by using the optical communication line switching device according to claim 1 to construct two places for bypassing the optical communication path to the bypass optical fiber, and the optical communication line switching device. The optical communication of the working optical line optical fiber is temporarily interrupted by the optical light blocking means at the same time as the optical communication is opened by the switching means. The opening of the optical amplifier is confirmed from the results and the gain of the optical amplifying means is increased to compensate for the loss due to the detour connection, and the fiber cutting means is made to cut the working optical line optical fiber. After cutting the working optical line optical fiber, connect the new optical line optical fiber to each cut part, and then stop the temporary blocking of the light temporary blocking means in the optical communication line switching device to return the optical communication, At the same time, the optical switching means is configured to block optical communication.

  (6) In the configuration of (5), when the optical communication line switching device includes communication means for transmitting / receiving communication status data to / from the station side transmission device, the optical communication line switching device uses the communication means. A time at which no signal is transmitted is acquired from the station-side transmission device, and at that time, the fiber cutting means is configured to cut the working optical line optical fiber.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an optical communication line switching device and an optical communication line switching method using the switching device that can prevent instantaneous interruption even when physical disconnection occurs due to medium connection change. Can do.
By performing switching using the technology of the present invention, it becomes possible to switch lines that do not cause service interruption, and therefore, it is possible to perform efficient work that eliminates the need for line borrowing and adjustment operations. Further, the present invention can be applied even when the connector is not connected.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the optical communication line switching apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure for demonstrating the optical communication line switching method using the switching apparatus shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the optical communication line switching apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure for demonstrating the optical communication line switching method using the switching apparatus shown in FIG.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiment described below is an example of the configuration of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the following embodiment.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the optical communication line switching device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In this switching device, the opposite station side transmission device and subscriber side transmission device transmit and receive signal light via the working optical line optical fiber, and manage the communication timing based on the measured value of the frame round-trip time between the transmission devices. It is used for an optical communication system having a communication timing management function.
In FIG. 1, 1 is a working optical line optical fiber, 2 is a detour optical fiber, and 3 and 3 ′ are side lights for connecting the detour optical fiber 2 at any two locations of the working optical line optical fiber 1. I / O mechanism. As the side light input / output mechanisms 3 and 3 ′, for example, a technique such as Non-Patent Document 2 can be used.

  In the working optical line optical fiber 1, a temporary light blocking mechanism 4 and a fiber cutting mechanism 7 are interposed between two points where the side input / output mechanisms 3 and 3 ′ are connected to the detour optical fiber 2 in parallel. An optical switching mechanism 5 and an optical amplification mechanism 6 are interposed in the bypass optical fiber 2.

  The temporary light blocking mechanism 4 realizes blocking of signal light transmission without cutting the optical fiber by, for example, winding the optical fiber on a cylinder having a radius of about 3 mm or bending it by pressing. The optical switching mechanism 5 is a mechanism for blocking / opening optical communication in the bypass optical fiber 2 in conjunction with the temporary light blocking mechanism 4. The optical amplification mechanism 6 is inserted to compensate for the loss caused by the side input / output mechanisms 3 and 3 '. The fiber connection mechanism 7 is a mechanism for cutting the fiber line in order to switch the working optical line optical fiber 1 to a new optical fiber.

  Each of the functional devices 3, 3 ′, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8 ′ is connected to the control device 10 through the control signal line 9, and is based on a control command from the control device 10. Process to realize each function. The control device 10 is connected to the communication mechanism 11 and has a function of receiving a command from an external device through the communication mechanism 11 and providing requested information.

  Optical monitoring mechanisms 8 and 8 'are disposed in the vicinity of the connection points of the side input / output mechanisms 3 and 3', respectively. Each of these optical monitoring mechanisms 8 and 8 ′ detects an optical power value when signal light passes through the bypass optical fiber 2, and each detection result is sent to the control device 10.

  The control device 10 receives the optical power value measured by the pair of optical monitoring mechanisms 8 and 8 ′ provided in the vicinity of the side input / output mechanisms 3 and 3 ′. While confirming whether communication has been established, the amplification factor of the optical amplifying mechanism 6 is controlled so that the optical power value becomes equal to or higher than a specified value.

  At the stage where the two side light input / output mechanisms 3 and 3 ′ are connected, the transmission signal light has not yet passed through the detour optical fiber 2. Therefore, the control device 20 turns on the optical switching mechanism 5 to pass the signal light through the bypass optical fiber 2 and at the same time, causes the temporary light blocking mechanism 4 to stop the signal light transmission of the working optical line optical fiber 1.

As a result, signal light transmission by the bypass optical fiber 2 is started by the optical switching mechanism 5, and at the same time, signal light transmission of the working optical line optical fiber is blocked by the temporary light blocking mechanism 4. Thereafter, the working optical line optical fiber 1 is cut by the fiber cutting mechanism 7.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration for explaining the switching method using the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 as the optical communication line switching apparatuses 200 and 200 ′.

  In FIG. 2, optical communication line switching devices 200 and 200 ′ are arranged at two locations between the station-side transmission device 100 and the subscriber-side transmission device 101. These two optical communication line switching devices 200, 200 'and the station-side transmission device 100 are connected by a synchronous control communication channel 201, and transmit / receive data such as switching times to / from each other.

  The communication mechanism 11 shown in FIG. 1 acquires communication status data such as a time when no signal is transmitted from the station-side transmission device 100, that is, a time when no service interruption occurs, and the control device 10 switches the optical communication line at that time. The devices 200 and 200 ′ are controlled to switch the communication path from the working optical line optical fiber 1 to the detour optical fiber 2 inside the optical communication line switching devices 200 and 200 ′.

  After switching from the working optical line optical fiber 1 to the detour optical fiber 2, the working optical line optical fiber 1 is cut by the fiber cutting mechanism 7 in each switching device 200, 200 ', and the new optical line light at each cut point The new optical line optical fiber 300 is connected at the fiber connection point. For the connection, fusion connection, simple connector connection, or the like can be used depending on the situation.

Thereafter, the optical communication line switching devices 200 and 200 ′ stop the temporary blocking of the light temporary blocking mechanism 4 to restore the optical communication, and at the same time, the optical switching mechanism 5 blocks the optical communication, and the switching devices 200 and 200 ′ are switched. A series of work is completed by removing.
As described above, the optical communication line switching devices 200 and 200 ′ according to the present embodiment are provided with the side light input / output mechanisms 3 and 3 ′ at the upper part and the lower part of the switching target section to provide a working optical line optical fiber. 1 and the detour optical fiber 2, and the working optical line optical fiber 1 has a light blocking mechanism 4, and the detour optical fiber 2 has an optical switching mechanism 5, an optical amplification mechanism 6, and an optical monitoring mechanism 8. , 8 ′ and all the mechanisms are connected to the control device 10 via the control line 9, and the control device 10 is further connected to the transmission device 11 so that it can communicate with the station-side transmission device 100. .

  As a result, the control device 10 obtains the time when the signal is not transmitted from the transmission device 100, starts signal light transmission to the detour optical fiber 2 by the optical switching mechanism 5, and at the same time, the temporary optical blocking mechanism 4 causes the working optical line light. It becomes possible to cut off the signal light transmission of the fiber 1.

  Using the switching devices 200 and 200 ', the station-side transmission device 100 and the switching mechanism 7 are linked to manage the switching timing, and perform detour formation or line switching at a time when no signal is transmitted. As a result, even if a physical disconnection occurs due to a connection change of the new optical line optical fiber 300, it is possible to prevent instantaneous interruption. In addition, by notifying the station side transmission apparatus 100 that the switching to the detour optical fiber 2 has been completed, the station side transmission apparatus 100 can grasp the operation status and that there is no problem in service. Can be confirmed.

(Second Embodiment)
The present invention is not limited to the configuration shown in FIGS. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an optical communication line switching apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration for explaining an optical communication line switching method using the switching apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 and 4, the same parts as those in FIGS. 1 and 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and different parts will be described here.

  The switching device shown in FIG. 3 is characterized in that an optical repeater 12 is used in place of the optical switching mechanism 5 and the optical amplification mechanism 6 shown in FIG. The optical repeater 12 originally has switching and optical amplification functions, and it is not necessary to separately provide the optical switching mechanism 5 and the optical amplification mechanism 6 in FIG.

  In the present embodiment, a switching method having a form as shown in FIG. 4 is provided. This is a method in which the optical communication line switching devices 200 and 200 ′ are used independently (independently) at two locations, and communication with the station-side transmission device 200 is not performed. Therefore, there is a possibility that the transmission signal may be lost, but it is possible to construct the detour optical fiber 2 in the apparatus with a short interruption for a short time and realize the fusion splicing at the connection point of the new optical line optical fiber. Therefore, it is effective if it is an application area in which a loss of transmission signal light for a short time is allowed.

In this case, the optical communication line switching devices 200 and 200 ′ do not require the communication mechanism 11 for communicating with the station-side transmission device 100, and the device configuration can be simplified.
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some configurations may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different example embodiments may be combined as appropriate.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Working optical line optical fiber, 2 ... Detour optical fiber, 3, 3 '... Side light input / output mechanism, 4 ... Temporary light blocking mechanism, 5 ... Optical switching mechanism, 6 ... Optical amplification mechanism, 7 ... Fiber cutting 8, 8 '... optical monitoring mechanism, 9 ... control signal line, 10 ... control device, 11 ... communication mechanism, 12 ... optical repeater, 100 ... station side transmission device, 101 ... subscriber side transmission device, 200, 200 '... optical communication line switching device, 300 ... new optical line optical fiber.

Claims (6)

In the optical communication line switching device for switching the working optical line optical fiber to another new optical line optical fiber,
A pair of side light input / output means for inputting / outputting optical signals to / from the working optical line optical fiber;
A detour optical fiber connected to the pair of side light input / output mechanisms;
An optical switching means for interrupting / opening the optical communication interposed in the detour optical fiber;
Optical amplification means for amplifying an optical signal interposed in the bypass optical fiber;
Optical monitoring means for confirming whether optical communication is established in the bypass optical fiber;
Temporary light blocking means interposed in the working optical line optical fiber for temporarily blocking the optical communication;
A fiber cutting means for cutting the working optical line optical fiber;
And a control means for controlling the operations of the pair of side light input / output means, the light temporary blocking means, the light monitoring means, the light amplification means, the light switching means, and the fiber cutting means. An optical communication line switching device.   After the connection of the pair of side light input / output means to the working optical line optical fiber, the control means opens the optical communication to the optical switching means, and at the same time, temporarily connects the working optical line optical fiber to the light blocking means. Temporarily cut off optical communication, confirm the opening from the monitoring result of the optical monitoring means and increase the amplification factor of the optical amplifying means to compensate for the loss due to the bypass connection, and finally the fiber cut 2. The optical communication line switching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said working optical line optical fiber is cut by means. Transmitting and receiving signal light between the station-side transmission device and the subscriber-side transmission device facing the working optical line optical fiber. The station-side transmission device performs communication based on the measured value of the frame round-trip time of the signal light. In the case of having a communication timing management function to manage timing,
Furthermore, a communication means for transmitting and receiving communication status data with the station side transmission device,
The control means acquires a time at which no signal is transmitted from the station side transmission device through the communication means, and causes the fiber cutting means to cut the working optical line optical fiber at that time. The optical communication line switching apparatus according to claim 1.   2. The optical communication line switching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein optical repeaters having respective functions are used for the optical switching means and the optical amplification means. Opposing station-side transmission device and subscriber-side transmission device transmit and receive signal light via the working optical line optical fiber, and measure the frame round-trip time between the station-side transmission device and the subscriber-side transmission device. In an optical communication line switching method that is used in an optical communication system having a communication timing management function for managing communication timing based on, and switches the working optical line optical fiber to a new optical line optical fiber,
The switching point of the new optical line optical fiber is constructed in the working optical line optical fiber, and two points for detouring the optical communication path in the detour optical fiber using the optical communication line switching device according to claim 1,
In the optical communication line switching device,
The optical communication of the working optical line optical fiber is temporarily blocked by the optical temporary blocking means at the same time as the switching means opens optical communication,
Confirming the opening from the monitoring result of the optical monitoring means and increasing the amplification factor of the optical amplifying means to compensate for the loss due to the detour connection,
The fiber cutting means is made to cut the working optical line optical fiber,
After cutting the two working optical line optical fibers, connect the new optical line optical fibers to the respective cut portions,
Thereafter, the optical communication line switching device stops the temporary interruption of the optical temporary interruption means to return the optical communication, and simultaneously causes the optical switching means to interrupt the optical communication. When the optical communication line switching device comprises communication means for transmitting and receiving communication status data with the station side transmission device,
In the optical communication line switching device, obtaining a time when no signal is transmitted from the station side transmission device through the communication means, and causing the fiber cutting means to cut the working optical line optical fiber at that time. The optical communication line switching method according to claim 5.

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