Patent ID: 7035540
Filing Date: 2006-04-25
Classification: H04J,H04Q

Abstract:
1. A configuration for an optical fiber ring network, comprising: two or more nodes, each node including, a multiplexing device, a client device, and redundant signal connections between the multiplexing device and the client device; redundant signal paths connecting the nodes, each of the redundant signal paths including an optical fiber link operable to transmit data bi-directionally between each pair of connected nodes, wherein the multiplexing device is configured to selectively transmit outgoing data from the client device, and selectively receive incoming data destined for the client device, over each of the redundant signal paths, the multiplexing device being selectively linked to the client device for data communications by each of the redundant signal connections; wherein the redundant signal connections include, first and second link cards, each operable to communicate data between the multiplexing device and the client device, and a switching apparatus operable to activate one of the first and second link cards, wherein the activated link card conveys the outgoing data from the client device to the multiplexing device, and conveys the incoming data from the multiplexing device to the client device; and wherein the redundant data paths include a first and second data path, the multiplexing device includes a first and a second multiplexing unit configured to transmit the outgoing data and receive the incoming data over the first and second signal path, respectively, and the activated link card selectively links the client device to each of the first and second multiplexing units for data communications.