Method and system for providing broadcast channels over an emulated subnetwork

A method for broadcasting traffic in a synchronous optical network (SONET) ring having a plurality of nodes interconnected by an optical transmission media, comprising:

• assigning each node on the SONET ring a distinct virtual channel on a subnetwork in the SONET ring;
• transmitting broadcast traffic at each node within a frame of the SONET ring in the virtual channel assigned to the node;
• processing and retransmitting at each node traffic received on the SONET ring in a virtual channel assigned to another node;
• assigning each node on the SONET ring a virtual channel in an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network;
• receiving an Internet Protocol (IP) packet at a node comprising broadcast traffic;
• converting the IP packet to a set of ATM cells each having an ATM header identifying the virtual channel of the ATM network;
• and
• transmitting the set of ATM cells in the virtual channel assigned to the node in the ATM network.

A method for broadcasting traffic in a synchronous optical network (SONET) ring having a plurality of nodes interconnected by an optical transmission media, comprising:

• assigning each node on the SONET ring a distinct virtual channel on a subnetwork in the SONET ring;
• transmitting broadcast traffic at each node within a frame of the SONET ring in the virtual channel assigned to the node;
• processing and retransmitting at each node traffic received on the SONET ring in a virtual channel assigned to another node;
• receiving broadcast traffic at a node;
• encapsulating the broadcast traffic in a ring frame by adding a ring layer header to the traffic, the ring layer header identifying the node and a destination node;
• and
• each node processing traffic received in a virtual channel assigned to another node to at least determine the destination node identified by the ring frame and to terminate processing in response to the node not being a destination node for the traffic.

A propagated signal embodied in an optical transmission media of a synchronous optical network (SONET) ring, comprising:

• a SONET frame;
• a plurality of asynchronous transport mode (ATM) cells within the SONET frame;
• each ATM cell comprising a portion of a message transmitted initially onto the SONET ring by a node and an ATM header identifying an ATM virtual channel uniquely assigned to the node within the SONET ring;
• and
• one or more of the ATM cells within the SONET frame including a ring frame header for the message, the ring frame header identifying the originating node and a destination node for the message on the SONET ring.

A telecommunications ring, comprising:

• a plurality of nodes;
• a transmission media interconnecting the nodes in a telecommunications ring;
• a distinct virtual channel assigned to each node on a subnetwork in the telecommunications ring;
• each node, in response to receiving traffic in a virtual channel assigned to another node, operable to both process and retransmit the traffic;
• and
• each node further comprising a protocol stack operable to encapsulate broadcast traffic into a ring frame identifying an originating node and a destination node, to segment the ring frame into a plurality of asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) cells each identifying the virtual channel of the originating node, and to transmit the set of ATM cells in the virtual channel of the originating node and within a frame of the telecommunications ring.