Aspects of the disclosure involve a source node, having some predetermined knowledge of the optical network generating a list of nodes and/or optical links between nodes that form a route in the optical network from the source node to the destination node. The nodes in the optical network do not necessarily need to know the entire route from source node to destination node. Each node simply decodes the control information identifying the next hop in the route towards the destination node. By utilizing the decoded control information identifying the next hop, a switch in the node can be controlled to route the optical signal including the payload and some or all of the control information onto the next optical link toward the destination node.