Patent ID: 8064763

Claim:
An optical communications network comprising: a first plurality of nodes optically interconnected by an optical communications path; a second plurality of nodes disposed along the optical communications path, wherein: each of the second plurality of nodes is connected to at least one of the first plurality of nodes via the optical communications path; traffic between the first plurality of nodes travels through at least one of the second plurality of nodes without undergoing an optical-electrical-optical conversion; each of the second plurality of nodes has a working path for traffic that includes at least one of the first plurality of nodes; and the first plurality of nodes transmits to and receives information from nodes in both the first plurality of nodes and the second plurality of nodes; and a third plurality of nodes optically interconnected by an optical communications path, wherein the first and third plurality of nodes have different hierarchical attributes, and wherein: the second plurality of nodes are connected to at least one of the first plurality of nodes via the optical communications paths interconnecting the first and third plurality of nodes, at least some traffic between the first and third plurality of nodes travels through the optical communications path and through at least one of the second plurality of nodes without undergoing an optical-electrical-optical conversion, the second plurality of nodes are configured to transmit all traffic to an adjacent node in one of the first and third plurality of nodes via the optical communications path interconnecting the first and third plurality of nodes, wherein the adjacent node in the first and third plurality of nodes is part of a working path for the traffic from the second plurality of nodes, and the first and third plurality of nodes are configured to transmit traffic to and receive traffic from other nodes in the first and third plurality of nodes and the second plurality of nodes on the optical communications path interconnecting the nodes in the first and third plurality of nodes.