Patent ID: 7489627

Claim:
A telecommunication network section, comprising: a) two nodes; b) a group of at least two bidirectional data lines extending between the two nodes; c) at least one of the data lines being redundant; d) each node including a control unit, at least one switching matrix, and a plurality of interface circuits; e) each data line being connected to an interface circuit of each of the two nodes; f) each interface circuit being operative for transmitting a predetermined number of channels between a data line and the switching matrix; g) the control unit of a node being operative for acceding to a configuration record which at any time specifies existing connections between channels of the interface circuits via the switching matrix; and h) the control unit being operative for detecting whether an external condition is fulfilled or not, and, in case of non-fulfillment of the condition, for allowing changes to the connections recorded in the configuration record, and in case of fulfillment of the condition, for blocking changes to the connections recorded in the configuration record, while at the same time allowing transmission of information via the switching units of the node to continue.