Patent ID: 8917592

Claim:
A first communication apparatus which is one of a plurality of communication apparatuses included in a ring network, the first communication apparatus comprising: a first network interface configured to be coupled to a second communication apparatus via a first link, the second communication apparatus being one of the plurality of communication apparatuses included in the ring network; a second network interface configured to be coupled to a third communication apparatus via a second link that is not included in the ring network, the third communication apparatus being outside the ring network and coupled to the second communication apparatus via a third link; and circuitry configured to monitor a network state indicating presence or absence of a failure occurring in the ring network, a first link state indicating presence or absence of a failure occurring in the second link, a second link state indicating presence or absence of a failure occurring in the third link, and information indicating a direction of forwarding data in the ring network; and determine whether to forward data to the third apparatus via the first link or the second link based on the information indicating the direction of forwarding data in the ring network, the first link state, and the second link state.