Patent ID: 7451340

Claim:
A method for establishing a restoration path for a service in a mesh network having a plurality of nodes interconnected by a plurality of links, the method comprising, at a regional manager for one or more transit nodes of the restoration path: receiving a service data structure comprising an identification of each link and transit node in a primary path for the service, wherein: the service data structure is a primary path vector having a plurality of entries corresponding to the nodes and links in the network; and each entry of the primary path vector identifies whether the corresponding node or link is part of the primary path for the service, wherein at least one entry of the primary path vector identifies that the corresponding node or link is not part of the primary path for the service; and determining whether to reserve additional protection bandwidth, on an outgoing link incident to at least one of the one or more transit nodes of the restoration path, using the service data structure, wherein the outgoing link is part of the restoration path.