Patent ID: 7688834

Claim:
A method for providing support for multiple control channels, comprising: establishing an indirect data connection with a first network entity in an optical network using a broadcast interface; establishing a first control channel with the first network entity using the broadcast interface, the first control channel comprising at least one unique source IP address associated with the first control channel; and transmitting a first control message to the first network entity via the first control channel, the first control message comprising the unique source IP address associated with the first control channel; establishing a direct data connection with a second network entity using the broadcast interface, the second network entity positioned such that the first control message passes through the second network entity before arriving at the first network entity; establishing a second control channel with the second network entity using the broadcast interface, the second control channel comprising at least one unique source IP address associated with the second control channel, the at least one unique source IP address associated with the second control channel different than the at least one unique source IP address associated with the first control channel such that the unique source IP address distinguishes control message in different control channels received over the same broadcast interface; and transmitting a second control message to the second network entity via the second control channel, the second control message comprising the unique source IP address associated with the second control channel.