Patent ID: 7792132

Claim:
A first framer/mapper/multiplexor (FMM) device comprising: a high-speed input port adapted to receive a first incoming high-speed signal from a high-speed network; a protection input port adapted to receive, from a second FMM device, an incoming protection signal corresponding to a second incoming high-speed signal received at the second FMM device; a low-speed output port adapted to transmit one or more outgoing low-speed signals to a low-speed network; and signal-processing circuitry adapted to: (1) generate a first set of one or more switching-level signals from the first incoming high-speed signal; (2) generate a second set of one or more switching-level signals from the incoming protection signal; (3) select, at the switching-level signal level, a third set of one or more switching-level signals from the first and second sets of one or more switching-level signals; and (4) generate the one or more outgoing low-speed signals from the third set of one or more switching-level signals, wherein the first incoming high-speed signal has a greater speed than the switching-level signals and the outgoing low-speed signals.