Patent ID: 8463123

Claim:
A method of establishing a connection along a path in a communications network, the communications network comprising a plurality of switching nodes interconnected by optical links, the path being defined between a first one of the switching nodes and a second one of the switching nodes via at least one intermediate switching node, the at least one intermediate switching node being disposed between a respective first link and a respective second link of the path, the method comprising, at the at least one intermediate switching node: maintaining an association between the respective first link and a respective first wavelength, the first wavelength being available on the respective first link; receiving a message from a one of: the second one of the switching nodes and another intermediate switching node, the message indicative of an association between the respective second link and a respective second wavelength, the respective second wavelength being available on the respective second link; mapping the combination of the respective first link and the respective first wavelength to the combination of the respective second link and the respective second wavelength; and storing the result of mapping in a memory element.