Patent ID: 6934248

Claim:
A network element arranged to be coupled within a working path of an optical network, the network element comprising: a plurality of ports including first and second ports arranged to be coupled to Optical Camer (OC) links within the working path; a switch fabric connected to the plurality of ports and configured to couple the first and second ports such that data traffic received on one of the first and second ports is output on the other; and a control unit, connected to the switch fabric, that operates to monitor for a failure within the working path and, if a failure is detected in the working path, to determine protection switching data corresponding to the failure and to insert the protection switching data within the data traffic being output from at least one of the first and second ports, wherein the data traffic comprises a plurality of data units, each data unit comprising a path overhead that further comprises at least one protection byte; and wherein to insert the protection switching data within the data traffic, the control unit inserts the protection switching data within the at least one protection byte.