Patent ID: 6894969

Claim:
An interface device for coupling a group of service cards of a packet based switch to a switching core thereof, said group of service cards including one or more on-line service cards and one or more protection cards, said device comprising: a plurality of core side input and output ports for coupling to said switching core and a plurality of card side input and output ports for coupling to said service cards; a data flow switch function coupled between said core side pots and said card side ports, said data flow switch function operable to complete data flow paths between said core side ports and said card side ports; and a link failure detector operable to detect a communications failure on a communications link associated with one of said on-line service cards, said link failure detector further operable to alter said data flow switch function such that one or more of said data flow paths associated with one of said on-line service cards are switched to one of said protection cards.