Patent ID: 6862288

Claim:
A method of operating a communications system, the communications system including a plurality of nodes interconnected by a plurality of communications paths to form at least one communications network, the plurality of communications paths including at least one control path for carrying out-of-band control information between at least two of the plurality of nodes and at least one corresponding data path for transferring data between the at least two nodes, the method comprising the steps of: determining whether the control path is in an operational state or a non-operational state; in the event the control path is in the non-operational state, determining whether a forwarding state defining a data transmission channel along the corresponding data path is established; in the event the forwarding state defining the data transmission channel is not established, tearing-down the data transmission channel along the data path; and in the event the forwarding state defining the data transmission channel is established, maintaining the data transmission channel along the data path.