Patent ID: 7860119

Claim:
A switching module system comprising: a first hardware gateway network element including a gateway ADM (Add/Drop Multiplexer) for a switching center that interconnects multiple networks, to terminate a synchronous data transmission ring to provide a communication path for signals between the synchronous data transmission ring and network locations external to the synchronous data transmission ring; a second hardware gateway network element including a gateway ADM (Add/Drop Multiplexer), to terminate an additional synchronous data transmission ring to provide a communication path for signals between the additional synchronous data transmission ring and network locations external to the additional synchronous data transmission ring, where the synchronous data transmission ring and the additional synchronous data transmission ring operate according to different protocols; a central switching core to directly interconnect the first and second gateway network elements; and a management hardware element to interconnect the first and second gateway network elements with a central management system, the management element to natively communicate with the first and second gateway network elements and the central management system in their respective protocols, the central management system to provide management signals to direct traffic flow on the synchronous data transmission rings.