Methods and systems for avoiding transmission-channel disruptions

A system for circumventing a transmission-channel disruption and alerting transmission-channel users of the transmission-channel disruption, the system comprising:

• an input for receiving a first signal encoding information;
• N−1 multiplexing beamsplitters for splitting the first signal into N distributed signals;
• N transmission channels, each transmission channel carrying one of the N distributed signals;
• N−1 demultiplexing beamsplitters for combining the N distributed signals into a second signal that encodes the information;
• a first detector for detecting the second signal output from the N−1 demultiplexing beamsplitters;
• and
• one or more detectors for detecting a third signal output from the N−1 demultiplexing beamsplitters when a disruption occurs in one or more of the N transmission channels, the third signal alerts the transmission-channel users of the disruption.

A method for alerting transmission-channel users of a disruption in one or more transmission channels, the method comprising:

• producing a first signal that encodes information;
• multiplexing the first signal by distributing the first signal over N transmission channels to obtain N distributed signals;
• demultiplexing the N distributed signals by combining the N distributed signals into a second signal that encodes the information;
• detecting the second signal at a first detector;
• and
• detecting a third signal at a second detector when a disruption occurs in one or more of the N transmission channels, the third signal alerts the transmission-channel users of the disruption.