Method and system for providing an external optical data packet to a destination node of a packet optical network

A method and a system for providing an external optical data packet (222) to a destination node of a packet optical network (202) are described. The packet optical network (202) includes a plurality of nodes (210-216) and a first optical data channel (224) for optically communicating local optical data packets between the plurality of nodes (210-216). The external optical data packet (222) is optically converted (230) for a transmission to the destination node over a second optical data channel (226) of the packet optical network (202), the first and second optical data channels (224, 226) being independent of each other, the converted external optical data packet (222) is optically transferred to the packet optical network (202), and the converted external optical data packet (222) is transmitted to the destination node over the second optical data channel (226).