Patent ID: 7813263

Claim:
A communications network node for performing one of packet switching and routing in processing packets associated with at least one communications session provisioned over a communications network, the network node comprising: a. a hardware classifier for associating one of at least one received data packet and at least one heartbeat packet embedded in a header of the data packet with a traffic flow corresponding to the communication session, wherein the heartbeat packet identifies the traffic flow; b. a hardware heartbeat processor for asserting that the traffic flow, identified in the heartbeat packet, is affected by a network failure based on information derived from the at least one heartbeat packet; and c. a hardware failover module for automatically switching each data packet associated with the affected flow onto a predefined failover transport path and performing an action in accordance with an action code and associated parameters, wherein the action code specifies an action to be performed on one of the heartbeat packet and data packets associated with the affected flow.