Patent ID: 7639606

Claim:
A method of automatically rerouting logical circuit data in a virtual private data network, the method comprising: assigning a first logical circuit identifier to a logical failover circuit prior to a failure of a dedicated logical circuit, wherein the dedicated logical circuit includes first variable communication paths to route data through a first local access and transport area, second variable communication paths to route the data through a second local access and transport area, and fixed communication paths to route the data between the first local access and transport area, the second local access and transport area, and an inter-exchange carrier; monitoring the dedicated logical circuit for status information pertinent to the dedicated logical circuit; identifying the failure of the dedicated logical circuit based on the status information; selecting the logical failover circuit comprising an alternate communication path for communicating the data, wherein selecting the logical failover circuit comprises identifying a currently unused logical connection for communicating the data; determining whether the first logical circuit identifier of the logical failover circuit matches a second logical circuit identifier of the dedicated logical circuit; when the first logical circuit identifier of the logical failover circuit does not match the second logical circuit identifier, renaming the second logical circuit identifier to match the first logical circuit identifier; and rerouting the data to the logical failover circuit without manual intervention.