US Patent 7969868 Path-level protection for digitally wrapped payloads

A node, of a group of nodes, may detect a failure on a first path; establish a connection associated with a second path when the failure on the first path is detected; store an identifier in a field in an overhead portion of a data frame when the failure on the first path is detected, the data frame including a payload portion that contains a client signal, the identifier instructing another one of the nodes to establish a connection associated with the second path; and transmit the data frame to the other one of the nodes via the second path.