Relative fault-tolerant switching among degraded redundant communication paths

A non-transitory, machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:

• identifying a plurality of communication paths extending between a first communication device and a second communication device, wherein the plurality of communication paths comprises a current communication path and a group of alternate communication paths, the current communication path configured to support a communication session that exchanges information between the first and second communication devices according to a communication service;
• detecting a first partial degradation of the communication service of the current communication path according to a first degradation severity rating;
• responsive to the detecting:
• comparing the first degradation severity rating to each degradation severity rating of a plurality of degradation severity ratings corresponding to a respective alternate communication path of the group of alternate communication paths;
• determining a switchover opportunity based on a degradation severity difference between the first degradation severity rating and a second degradation severity rating of the plurality of degradation severity ratings;
• and
• selecting, responsive to the switchover opportunity, an alternate communication path of the group of alternate communication paths, for the communication service, having a second degradation severity rating less than the first degradation severity rating, wherein the selecting the alternate communication path is responsive to detecting the degradation severity difference exceeding a degradation severity rating difference threshold.

A method, comprising:

• identifying, by a processing system comprising a processor, a plurality of communication paths extending between a first communication device and a second communication device, wherein the plurality of communication paths comprises a current communication path and a group of alternate communication paths, the current communication path configured to support a communication session that exchanges information between the first and second communication devices according to a communication service;
• detecting, by the processing system, a first partial degradation of the communication service of the current communication path according to a first degradation severity rating;
• responsive to the detecting:
• comparing, by the processing system, the first degradation severity rating to each degradation severity rating of a plurality of degradation severity ratings corresponding to a respective alternate communication path of the group of alternate communication paths;
• determining a switchover opportunity based on a degradation severity difference between the first degradation severity rating and a second degradation severity rating of the plurality of degradation severity ratings;
• and
• selecting, by the processing system and responsive to the switchover opportunity, an alternate communication path of the group of alternate communication paths, for the communication service, having a second degradation severity rating less than the first degradation severity rating, wherein the selecting the alternate communication path is responsive to detecting the degradation severity difference exceeding a degradation severity rating difference threshold.