Patent ID: 7633949

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving a request for a virtual circuit; identifying said virtual circuit in an optical network based on information in said request, wherein said optical network comprises a plurality of nodes, and each one of said nodes is coupled to at least one other of said nodes by at least one of a plurality of optical links; determining a desired quality of service (QoS) level of said virtual circuit based on said information in said request, wherein said desired QoS level is one of a plurality of QoS levels, and said QoS levels are defined using a set of parameters; determining if said optical network is able to support said virtual circuit at said desired QoS level; and provisioning said virtual circuit, if said optical network is able to support said virtual circuit, wherein said provisioning comprises configuring a physical circuit between a first node of said nodes and a second node of said nodes by dynamically identifying one or more intermediary nodes of said physical circuit, if said physical circuit comprises any intermediary nodes, and configuring said first, said second, and said one or more intermediary nodes.