Patent ID: 8644340

Claim:
A method comprising, by one or more computer systems: receiving a plurality of signals at a plurality of ports, each of the plurality of signals having a protocol type; mapping each of the plurality of signals to one or more time slots of one of a plurality of Low Order Optical Transport Network (OTN) containers; mapping the Low Order OTN containers to a High Order OTN container; mapping the High Order OTN container to a High Order OTN envelope for communication over an OTN; and in connection with the mapping of the High Order OTN container to the High Order OTN envelope, for each of the plurality of signals, inserting into the High Order OTN envelope information identifying: which of the plurality of ports that the respective signal was received at; the protocol type of the respective signal; the Low Order OTN container that the respective signal was mapped to; and one or more of the time slots that the respective signal was mapped to.