Patent ID: 7126908

Claim:
A smart span in a communication network comprising: a first node; a second node; a span connecting the first node with the second node with a direct path; a path type indicator, stored in one of the two nodes, having a value of either a working type or a protecting type adapted to specify a type of the direct path; electronic path-creating circuitry in one of the first and second nodes; and when the path type indicator being the working type, a protection virtual path connecting the first and second nodes through a third node, created by the electronic path-creating circuitry, and an automatic protection switch in one of the first and second nodes adapted to automatically switch to the protection virtual path upon detecting a failure condition in the span wherein the electronic path-creating circuitry includes electronic circuitry adapted to support a routing-protocol; and electronic circuitry adapted to support a signaling-protocol wherein the protection virtual path comprises an additional smart span including: an additional direct path connecting two adjacent nodes in the protection virtual path; an additional path type indicator for the additional direct path adapted to change the value from the protecting type to the working type upon detecting a failure condition in the span connecting the first node with the second node; and additional electronic path-creating circuitry in one of the two adjacent nodes adapted to create an additional protection virtual path connecting the two adjacent nodes through at least another node upon detecting a failure condition in the span connecting the first node with the second node, and said routing protocol is responsible for discovery of neighbors and link status, reliable distribution of routing topology information and optimal route determination, and said signaling protocol provides the capability of establishing, tearing down and modifying connections across network nodes.