Patent ID: 7724655

Claim:
A method comprising: detecting a failure in a virtual circuit, wherein said virtual circuit comprises a physical circuit between a first end node and a first boundary node, said first boundary node is configured to couple a first zone of a network and a second zone of said network, wherein said network comprises a plurality of network nodes, said first zone comprises a first plurality of said network nodes, comprising said first end node and said first boundary node, and a first plurality of intra-zone links, wherein each one of said first plurality of said network nodes is coupled to at least one other of said first plurality of said network nodes by at least one of said first plurality of intra-zone links, and said second zone comprises a second boundary node, and a second end node of said virtual circuit, said first boundary node is configured to couple said first zone and said second zone by virtue of being configured to be coupled to said second boundary node by an inter-zone link, said first boundary node is configured to maintain topological data, said topological data comprises information regarding said first plurality of said network nodes and said first plurality of intra-zone links, and said topological data excludes topological information regarding intra-zone links in said second zone; determining that said failure is within said physical circuit; and determining an alternate physical circuit between said first end node and said first boundary node, wherein said determining said alternate physical circuit comprises transmitting a plurality of restoration messages among nodes in said first zone, wherein said transmitting is restricted to said first zone, and said transmitting is performed in response to said determining that said failure is within said physical circuit, and identifying said alternate physical circuit in response to at least one reply to said plurality of restoration messages, wherein said identifying is performed by at least one of said network nodes.