Patent ID: 7310478
Filing Date: 2007-12-18
Classification: H04J,H04L,H04Q

Abstract:
1. A communication system comprising: a first communication device and a second communication device, a first optical switch and a second optical switch, a first link and a second link coupling the first communication device to the first optical switch, a third link and a fourth link coupling the second communication device to the second optical switch, and a fifth link, a sixth link, and a seventh link coupling the first optical switch to the second optical switch, wherein under normal operation, the first optical switch connects the first link to the fifth link and connects the second link to the sixth link and the second optical switch connects the third link to the fifth link and connects the fourth link to the sixth link; and in response to a fault on the fifth link and the sixth link, the first optical switch is configured to automatically disconnect the first link from the fifth link and connect the first link to the seventh link and the second optical switch is configured to automatically disconnect the third link from the fifth link and connect the third link to the seventh link, and after the seventh link is connected to the first link and the third link, the first communication device is configured to automatically re-route traffic from the second link to the first link and the second communication device is configured to automatically re-route traffic from the fourth link to the third link, wherein the disconnections and the connections provided by the first optical switch and the second optical switch comprise Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) layer 1 restoration and the re-routing provided by the first communication device and the second communication device comprises OSI layer 2/3 restoration.