Appeal No. 2004-1537 2
Application No. 09/206,597
operate to transport the high priority traffic on the path that is normally used to transport
the low priority traffic. The low priority traffic thereafter uses the path normally used by the
high priority traffic.
Claim 17 is illustrative of the claimed invention, and it reads as follows:
17. A method of transporting packet communications traffic between first and
second nodes in a communications packet network carrying high priority traffic and lower
priority traffic, said first node having a first output port to which the high priority traffic is
permanently allocated and a second output port to which the lower priority traffic is
permanently allocated, said first and second output ports being coupled to respective first
and second input ports at said second node via a transport medium comprising first and
second crossover switches and first and second substantially identical paths
therebetween, the method comprising:
at the first node, identifying the higher and lower priority packets in the traffic,
outputting the high priority packets of the traffic at the first output port and outputting the
lower priority packets of the traffic at the second output port;
transporting the high priority traffic via the first crossover switch, the first path and
the second crossover switch to the first input port at the second node, transporting the
lower priority traffic via the first crossover switch, the second path and the second
crossover switch to the second input port at the second node;
at the second node, receiving the high priority traffic at the first input port and the
lower priority traffic at the second input port;
monitoring the integrity of the first path and, in the event of a fault on that first path,
operating said first and second switches so as to transport the high priority traffic on the
second path and the lower priority traffic on the first path between the switches.
The references relied on by the examiner are:
Ikeuchi et al. (Ikeuchi) 4,680,776 July 14, 1987
Jones et al. (Jones) 6,067,286 May 23, 2000
(filed Oct. 7, 1997)
Mao et al. (Mao) 6,111,675 Aug. 29, 2000
(filed Aug. 27, 1997)
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007