Abstract: A system and method for fast and reliable failure notification and accelerated switchover for path protection in a communications network having several overlapping areas of nodes interconnected by communications links is described. Upon a failure event involving one of the communications links, a failure message is broadcast identifying the failed link, the broadcast being confined within the areas which include the failed link. A reliable transmission protocol is provided wherein at one or more of the nodes, a LAPD protocol unnumbered information frame containing the failure message is sent to connected nodes. The failure message is resent in another unnumbered information frame after a time interval unless an unnumbered acknowledgment frame containing or referencing the failure message is received from the connected node. A method of path protection includes establishing plural working paths through the nodes. For each working path, an associated protection path is precalculated.

Abstract: A mechanism for providing point-to-point and point-to-multipoint connections in an ATM network converts VPI/VCI information at an ingress ATM device on incoming cells from a source endpoint to internal VP/VCI information that is used to switch the cells through an ATM network to an egress ATM device. At the egress ATM device, the internal VPI/VCI information is converted back to the source VPI/VCI information for transmission of cells to the destination endpoint. In such a manner, an ATM switch network is able to provide point-to-point connections without requiring individual configuration of VPI/VCI information at the ingress and egress ATM devices.