Patent ID: 8837276

Claim:
A relay apparatus comprising: a first control section which connects to a first network; a second control section which connects to a second network, the second network being of a type different from a type the first network; and a relay section which selects a path to be operated as an active (ACT) system from the first network and the second network and performs path switching based on information regarding the first network and further information regarding the second network, wherein the second control section converts a transmission unit for transmission in the first network into a transmission unit for transmission in the second network, and transmits the transmission unit to the second network, the relay section receives i) information indicating a degree of a failure of the first network as the received information regarding the first network from the first control section, and ii) further information indicating a degree of a failure of the second network as the further information regarding the second network from the second control section, the relay section selects a path having a lower degree of a failure as the active (ACT) system based on the received information and the received further information, and then the relay section performs path switching based on selected the path, the first network is a time-division multiplexing (TDM) network including a plurality of TDM communication apparatuses in which the TDM communication apparatuses transmit and receive a TDM signal as the transmission unit, and the second network is a packet network including a plurality of packet communication apparatuses in which the packet communication apparatuses transmit and receive a packet as the transmission unit, and the second control section converts a TDM signal into a packet and transmits the packet to the packet network.