Abstract: A method and system is described for the restoration of communications in a communication network upon the detection of a perceived fault. The system is able to restore a fault without the node detecting a perceived link fault knowing whether the actual fault is on the link or the node attached to the other end of the link. Upon fault detection, the system reroutes communications affected by the fault onto predefined restoration paths by reconfiguring the cross-connects in the network nodes. Each restoration path is restricted to an island which is a prescribed sub-network made up of nodes and links surrounding the fault.