Patent ID: 8205141

Claim:
In a communication multi-lane distribution (MLD) protocol transmitter, a method for generating virtual lane (VL) forward error correction (FEC) overhead (OH), the method comprising: accepting an energy waveform representing an Optical Transport Network (OTN) frame with n consecutively ordered payload chunks of data words, at a first data rate; assigning each payload chunk to a virtual lane data word (VLDW) in an MLD frame of n consecutively ordered VLDWs; rotating the assignment order of payload chunks to VLDWs, at the start of each MLD frame; joining VLDWs into a VLDW groups, where each VLDW group includes at least one VLDW; calculating FEC blocks for each VLDW group, creating ordered VL codewords (VLCWs); multiplexing the VLCWs to maintain a consistent assignment of VLCW order to physical transmission lanes; and, transmitting energy waveforms representing each VLCW in parallel via the physical transmission lanes at a combined first data rate.