Patent ID: 8270289

Claim:
A first framer/mapper/multiplexor (FMM) device, comprising: a protection input port adapted to receive, from a second FMM device, an incoming protection signal corresponding to an incoming high-speed signal received at the second FMM device; and signal-processing circuitry adapted to generate one or more internal signals from said incoming protection signal, wherein said signal-processing circuitry synchronizes said one or more internal signals by changing a phase of said one or more internal signals without changing a frequency of said one or more internal signals based on a desired phase at a destination of each of said one or more internal signals, wherein said destination is a multiplexer that generates an outgoing high-speed signal from one or more switching-level signals, wherein a programmable synchronization signal is transferred from said first FMM device to said second FMM device and wherein a phase of said incoming protection signal is based on said programmable synchronization signal, wherein said first FMM device further comprises a high-speed output port adapted to transmit said outgoing high-speed signal to the high-speed network and wherein said one or more internal signals comprises at least one set of one or more incoming low-speed signals received at the second FMM device.