摘要 |
A digital communications system with fast facility protection is disclosed. The system includes at least one digital cross-connect which is in bidirectional communication with east and west routes of the network via east and west transmit ports and east and west receive ports. The cross-connect broadcasts a facility over both the east and west routes, and receives the return facility over one of the routes. The cross-connect monitors the error status of the received facility for hard error conditions and excessive error rates, by way of a distributed processor in communication with the port. In the event of an error, the cross-connect blind switches the facility to the inactive port by way of a receive-end switch, according to a first embodiment. According to another embodiment, a head-end switch is performed, thus allowing for improved flexibility for port assignment in the cross-connect.
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