PACKET DISTRIBUTION NETWORK

PURPOSE: To provide a simple and inexpensive packet distribution network which can decrease the packet blocking states. CONSTITUTION: An optical packet distribution network 23 switches a packet from an input port to an output port and consists of the node stages 0 to 6, i.e., the sets of nodes 30 and the link stages 0 to 6 which connect the continuous node stages to each other and have the switching and shoot links. Every node 30 has a switching means 40 which connects the continuous stage switching links to each other and a non-switching shoot connection means 50 which connects the continuous stage shoot links to each other. Then the node 30 transfers the packet received by a switching link to the selected one of shoot connection means of the node 30 from its switching means and then transfers the packet to a shoot link. (For instance, the packet moves along a thick line in the figure from an input 11 and is transferred to a network output port 12 in a node 3 of node stage 2).