Abstract: A synchronous digital communications network incorporating a number of nodes arranged in path protected rings and has two or more timing reference sources. The reference sources each allocated an artificial ranking of unique quality level values and these quality level values are transmitted as a section overhead message to provide a unique identifier for each source. Identification of the source to a node enables that node to be aware of a synchronization signal that has in fact originated from that node so as to prevent the setting up of synchronization loops. In a further embodiment the technique is extended to protection path identification for signals coupled between adjacent rings in a network having ring topology.