Patent ID: 6545980
Filing Date: 2003-04-08
Classification: H04J

Abstract:
A synchronous transmission system for digital signals combined into multiplex signals, transmitted as frames, comprisinga transmission path between a signal source (S1), having a network management system, and a signal drain (S7), a plurality of individual transmission systems (Sx), which each contain several network elements, and a network management system (NMS) associated with each individual transmission system, wherein the network management systems control the transmission systems by inserting digital signals bytewise into frames of a predefined frame format; each frame has respective regions for control data and for payload data, and at least one byte of said region for control data is transmitted along said transmission path back to said signal source (S1), thereby defining a bidirectional data channel for monitoring functions, and further comprising a plurality of monitoring devices, which are controlled by the network management system of the signal source and have access to at least one predefined byte of the region for control data, and which are connected in a manner distributed over the transmission path, so as thus to be able to modify contents of the region for control data.