Patent ID: 8203931

Claim:
A protection system for first and second communication networks interconnected by an Automatic Switched Transport Network (ASTN) having an ASTN control plane, the first network including a first primary terminal node configured to interconnect to a second primary terminal node of the second network over a primary communication circuit, the system comprising: a first secondary terminal node associated with the first primary terminal node in the first network; a second secondary terminal node associated with the second primary terminal node in the second network; the first and second secondary terminal nodes configured to establish a secondary communication circuit to interconnect the first and second secondary terminal nodes responsive to a failed interconnection between the first and second primary terminal nodes; the ASTN control plane configured to implement signaling and automatic polling mechanisms to switch traffic from the first and second primary terminal nodes to the first and second secondary terminal nodes responsive to the failed interconnection between the first and second primary terminal nodes; and wherein the criteria for switching the traffic to the secondary communication circuit are based on alarm monitoring on a client side of the ASTN network.