Transparent transport

A method for transporting a plurality (K) of trib signals over a high bit rate span, comprising the steps of:

• connecting a supercarrier input port to said high rate span for receiving a supercarrier signal over a supercarrier channel;
• transparently demultiplexing said supercarrier signal into a plurality (K) of trib output signals, each said trib output signal comprising OAM&P information on said trib output signal and OAM&P information on said supercarrier signal;
• and
• connecting a plurality (K) of trib Output ports to a corresponding plurality (K) of trib networks, each trib output for transmitting a trib output signal over a corresponding trib channel.

A method for transporting a plurality (K) of trib signals over a high rate span, comprising the steps of:

• at a first site,
• connecting a plurality (K) of trib input ports to a corresponding plurality (K) of trib networks, each trib input port for receiving a trib signal from a corresponding trib network;
• transparently multiplexing all said trib signals into a supercarrier signal of a high bit rate, said supercarrier signal comprising OAM&P information on all said trib signals and OAM&P in formation on said supercarrier signal;
• connecting a supercarrier output port to said high rate span for transmitting said supercarrier signal to a second site;
• at said second site,
• connecting a supercarrier input port to said supercarrier channel for receiving said supercarrier signal;
• transparently demultiplexing said supercarrier signal into said plurality (K) of trib signals, each said trib signal comprising said OAM&P information on said respective trib signal and OAM&P information on said supercarrier signal;
• and
• connecting a plurality (K) of trib output ports to a corresponding plurality (K) of trib networks, each trib output port for transmitting a respective trib signal over said corresponding trib network.

In a plurality (K) of tributary networks, each trib network for transporting trib signals between a multitude of sites with protection switching capabilities, said trib networks having in common a first and a second site, a method for carrying all said trib signals between said first and said second site over a high rate span, with no change to the provisioning of said trib networks, said method comprising, at any of said first or said second site, the steps of:

• providing a corresponding plurality (K) of trib ports and connecting each said trib port to a corresponding trib network over an associated forward working (FW) trib channel, an associated forward protection (FP) trib channel, an associated reverse working (RW) trib channel and reverse protection (RP) trib channel;
• providing a supercarrier port and connecting same to said a high speed span over a FW, a FP, a RW and a RP supercarrier channel;
• receiving at each trib port, from said corresponding trib network, a FW trib signal over said associated FW trib channel, and a FP trib signal over said associated FP trib channel;
• transparently multiplexing all said trib FW signals into a FW supercarrier signal comprising OAM&P information on all said FW trib signals and OAM&P information on said FW supercarrier signal;
• and
• transparently multiplexing all said FP trib signals into a FP supercarrier signal comprising OAM&P information on all said FP trib signals and OAM&P information on said FP supercarrier signal.

In a plurality (K) of tributary networks, each trib network for transporting trib signals between a multitude of sites with protection switching capabilities, said trib networks having in common a first and a second site, a method for carrying all said trib signals between said first and said second site over a high rate span, with no change to the provisioning of said trib networks, said method comprising, at any of said first or said second site, the steps of:

• providing a corresponding plurality (K) of trib ports and connecting each said trib port to an associated trib network over an associated FW trib channel, an associated FP trib channel, an associated RW trib channel, and an associated RP trib channel;
• providing a supercarrier port and connecting same to said a high speed span over a FW, a FP, a RW, and a RP supercarrier channel;
• receiving at each said trib port, from said corresponding trib network, a FW trib signal over said associated FW trib channel and a FP trib signal over said associated FP trib channel;
• and
• transparently multiplexing all said trib FW and PW signals into a forward supercarrier signal comprising OAM&P information on all said FW and PW trib signals and OAM&P information on said forward supercarrier signal.