Patent ID: 8325719

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a plurality of queues, wherein each queue is configured to receive a respective data stream and to monitor the respective data stream in order to detect a data stream signal failure; a multiplexer configured to time division multiplex the data streams into a combined, interleaved data stream; a Generic Framing Procedure-Transparent (GFP-T) frame constructor configured to create a GFP-T frame comprising a payload portion including: a payload data portion comprising a subsection of the combined data stream divided into equal subdivisions based upon the number of data streams, and a payload header portion including an indication of the occurrence of a data stream signal failure detected at the plurality of queues, and to divide a user payload identifier field of the payload header portion into two bits per data stream, wherein one of the two bits represents a loss of synchronization with the respective data stream, and the other bit represents a loss of signal with the respective data stream; and a transmitter configured to transmit the GFP-T frame via an optical link.