Patent ID: 8886040

Claim:
A method for controlling dynamic hitless resizing of a network connection in a data transport network, wherein a path of the network connection extends between two connection end nodes and optionally over one or more intermediate nodes of the data transport network; wherein the network connection transports data of client services in transport frames from an ingress end node to an egress end node; and wherein the network connection comprises a set of M tributary slots defined in a payload area of a higher order transport scheme of the data transport network; the method comprising the following steps, in case the network connection is to be incremented: receiving a connection resize control signal at each of the end nodes and the optionally one or more intermediate nodes along the path of the network connection; adding at each node along the path in response to the connection resize control signal a set of N tributary slots to the set of the M tributary slots, such that the network connection comprises M+N tributary slots; and increasing, after M+N tributary slots are available for the network connection at each node along the path in a synchronized manner between each pair of neighbouring nodes, a transport data rate of the network connection; and in case the the path of the network connection; decreasing, after a set of N tributary slots has been prepared for removal at each node along the path of the network connection in a synchronized manner between each pair of neighbouring nodes, a transport data rate of the signal passing though the network connection; and removing at each node along the path in response to the connection resize control signal the set of N tributary slots from the set of the M tributary slots, such that the network connection comprises M−N tributary slots.