Patent ID: 7493410

Claim:
A method of providing switched physical alternate links (SPAL) that behave as point-to-point physical links between nodes in a packet network, comprising: providing an apparatus that is overlaid on the packet network, comprising: at least one switch; physical communication links connecting selected nodes in the packet network with the at least one switch, the nodes being selected from among hosts and routers of the packet network, the physical communication links being selected from among optical fiber links, optical wavelength links, electrical links, optical free-space links, and a combination selected from among optical fiber links, optical wavelength links, electrical links, and optical free-space links; identifying the need for SPAL for traffic in the packet network, based on at least one of selected characteristics of said traffic, an external command, and other selected criteria including: time, permission, application, and target address; allocating a SPAL for said traffic; causing said traffic to flow over the SPAL by activating the at least one switch and sending the traffic along the physical communication links to pass other switches of the packet network; determining when the SPAL is no longer required, based on at least one of selected characteristics of said traffic, an external command, and other selected criteria including: time, permission, application, and target address; removing said traffic from the SPAL; and deallocating the SPAL.