Patent ID: 7170851

Claim:
A method for automatic topology provisioning of an optical network by a network management system, comprising: automatically mapping a topology of network elements of the network based on network connection information, the network connection information describing interconnections of the network elements; verifying that the network elements complete a ring formation; obtaining protection information specifying a protection mechanism to be implemented on the network; and automatically provisioning at least one of time-division multiplexing group (TDMG) and facility fault protection (FFP) depending upon the protection mechanism to be implemented on the network; wherein the protection mechanism is selected from the group consisting of bi-directional line switched ring (BLSR) protection mechanism, unidirectional path switched ring (UPSR) protection mechanism, 1:1 protection mechanism and 1+1 linear protection mechanism; and wherein when the protection mechanism is one of BLSR and UPSR, the provisioning comprises TDMG provisioning, wherein the TDMG provisioning includes bandwidth provisioning to allow a plurality of bandwidth portions, each bandwidth portion being provisioned with a different protection mechanism.