Patent ID: 7768904

Claim:
A method for fail-safe renaming of logical circuit identifiers for rerouted logical circuits in a data network, the method comprising: providing a network management module in communication with first and second local access and transport areas and a failover network, the first local access and transport area in communication with the second local access and transport area via an inter-exchange carrier, the failover network in communication with the first and second local access and transport areas and separate from the inter-exchange carrier, and the network management module to: monitor switches of a first logical circuit, the first logical circuit connecting the first and second local access and transport areas via the inter-exchange carrier, the switches located in the first and second local access and transport areas; rename a first logical circuit identifier for the first logical circuit to a second logical circuit identifier for a second logical circuit utilized for rerouting data from the first logical circuit, the second logical circuit connecting the first and second local access and transport areas via the failover network; and receive status information indicating that one of the switches is discarding frames or cells; and identifying, in response to the status information, a failure in the first logical circuit; and rerouting the data via the second logical circuit.