Patent ID: 7693089

Claim:
A method for performing a circuit upgrade in a Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) communication network comprising network elements coupled together to form one or more circuits, the circuit upgrade generated at a node in communication with the circuits and providing increased protection, the method comprising: providing at the node a list of circuits or spans available for the circuit upgrade; receiving input from a user identifying at least one existing circuit to be upgraded or at least one span for the upgraded circuit and a type of upgrade to be performed; and automatically performing the circuit upgrade to increase protection of said existing circuit, the upgraded circuit comprising a unidirectional path switched ring (UPSR) or a bi-directional line switched ring (BLSR), wherein automatically performing the circuit upgrade comprises: identifying an alternate path for use in the circuit upgrade; creating an upgrade object at a source node and a destination node in the circuit to be upgraded and at least one node in said alternate path, said upgrade object comprising a state of a process of the circuit upgrade and old and new connection types identifying the network element connection types before and after the circuit upgrade; and changing said state of at least one of said upgrade objects.