Patent ID: 6940808
Filing Date: 2005-09-06
Classification: H04J

Abstract:
1. An optical communication network for exchanging traffic between two data terminals connected at a respective end node, and recovering traffic in case of a fault at the physical layer, comprising: an adaptive rate interface at each said end node for changing the transmit and receive rate of traffic from a fast rate to a slow rate during a protection switch and from the slow rate to the fast rate upon return to normal operation from the protection switch; a link between said adaptive rate interfaces, the link including a working transmission facility for accommodating a traffic pipe of a first bandwidth (BW) corresponding to said fast rate during normal operation, and a protection transmission facility for accommodating a squeezed traffic pipe of a second bandwidth (BW) corresponding to said slow rate during the protection switch; and protection switching means for detecting an interruption in a flow of traffic through said working transmission facility and for operating the protection switch in response to the interruption, so that the flow of traffic traversing said working transmission facility at the fast rate switches to and traverses said protection transmission facility at the slow rate.