Patent ID: 8493872

Claim:
A system for determining a path between nodes in a network, comprising: a destination node; a link aggregation group (LAG) including a first link and a second link; and a source node communicatively coupled to the destination node by the link aggregation group (LAG), the source node, the LAG and the destination node forming a path, the source node operable to: determine a link availability status for each of the first and second links using a layer-2 protection scheme, the layer-2 protection scheme includes a link aggregation control protocol (LACP), the link availability status determined using an enhanced LACP state machine that is operable to determine the link availability status and select one of the first and second links, the enhanced LACP state machine comprising a bypass bit configured to enable the enhanced LACP state machine to transition from a waiting state to a transient state before a wait timer associated with the layer-2 protection scheme has expired; and monitor the path for connectivity based on the link availability status using a layer-3 protection scheme.