Patent ID: 8867913

Claim:
An Optical Transport Network (OTN) High Order (HO) mapping method, comprising: receiving a first HO signal at a first rate; asynchronously mapping the first HO signal into a second HO signal at a second rate, wherein the first rate and the second rate are substantially similar, wherein the first HO signal and the second HO signal are both OTN signals, and wherein the asynchronously mapping comprises translating a portion of OTN overhead from the first HO signal to OTN overhead of the second HO signal, and utilizing pointers in the OTN overhead of the second HO signal for frame alignment of the first HO signal instead of utilizing frame alignment signals in the OTN overhead of the second HO signal; and transmitting the second HO signal with the OTN overhead of the second HO signal, and wherein the second HO signal comprises the first HO signal with the portion of OTN overhead from the first HO signal.