A METHOD OF PROCESSING A MULTICAST FRAME IN AN OPTICAL NETWORK

A method of processing a multicast frame in an optical network including a nlulticast master node, a plurality of slave nodes and external computerized devices coupled to at least some of the slave nodes, the method comprising the steps of: receiving, at one of the slave nodes (702, 703, 704) in the optical network (700), a multicast frame transmitted over the optical network (700) from the multicast master node (701) as a first optical signal; converting, at the slave node (702, 703, 704), the received first optical signal to an electrical signal corresponding to the received multicast frame; forwarding the electrical signal to a circuit switch (710, 714, 718) within the slave node (702, 703, 704) and forwarding the electrical signal, with low latency, directly through the circuit switch (710, 714, 718) within the slave node (702, 703, 704) to a circuit switch output; converting the electrical signal from the circuit switch output to a second optical signal corresponding to the received multicast frame and transmitting the second optical signal downstream on the optical network (700) for receipt by another optical node in the optical network (700); and forwarding the received multicast frame from the circuit switch (710, 714, 718) to at least one external computerized device (752, 754, 756) coupled to the respective slave node (702, 703, 704) in the event the at least one external computerized devices (752, 754, 756) coupled to the slave node (702, 703, 704) is a multicast subscriber.