Patent ID: 7039005

Claim:
A method of protection switching for use in a communications system including a source node, a sink node, a first communications path configured to interconnect the source and sink nodes, and a second communications path configured to interconnect the source and sink nodes, comprising the steps of: receiving at least one first incoming data unit and at least one second incoming data unit at the source node, the at least one first incoming data unit and the at least one second incoming data unit having a first label and a second label, respectively, associated therewith; determining whether the first communications path is in a predetermined state; in the event the first communications path is in the predetermined state, identifying the at least one first and second incoming data units for transmission over the first and second communications paths based upon the respective first and second labels, and sending first outgoing data corresponding to the at least one first incoming data unit from the source node to the sink node over the first communications path, and sending second outgoing data corresponding to the at least one second incoming data unit from the source node to the sink node over the second communications path; and in the event the first communications path is not in the predetermined state, identifying the at least one first incoming data unit and at least some of the second incoming data units for transmission over the second communications path based upon the respective first and second labels, merging the identified first and second incoming data units, associating a first common label with the merged first and second incoming data units, and sending third outgoing data corresponding to the merged first and second incoming data units along with the associated first common label from the source node to the sink node over the second communications path.