Patent ID: 7515531

Claim:
An apparatus for communicating a plurality of data streams in a multipath data network, the apparatus comprising: a first receiver operative to receive data from a first data stream communicated over a primary path in the data network; a second receiver operative to receive data from a second data stream communicated over a secondary path in the data network; a transmitter operative to transmit data received from a node in the data network; a switch operative to receive data from the first receiver and the second receiver and send data to the transmitter; and an intelligent splitter operative to: receive the data streams communicated over the primary and secondary paths in the data network; send the first and second data streams to the first and second receivers; receive a modified data steam from the transmitter; simultaneously transmit the modified data stream over the primary and secondary paths in the data network; parse the data stream for a control stream, the control stream comprising state information indicative of a fault in the data network; and when the state information indicates that the node is downstream from the fault: send the second data stream to the second receiver; transmit the modified data stream over the secondary path; and pass through a return data stream over the primary path.