Ring network system capable of detecting an alarm in each node

Claim 2

A ring network system comprising a plurality of nodes which are connected to one another through a ring connection, said ring network using a communication overhead to pass overhead information between nodes wherein said communication overhead is in addition to a main communication signal, each one of said nodes comprising: node information signal producing means for producing a node information signal representative of a state of said each one of said nodes; a node information signal memory for memorizing the node information signals of all of said nodes; receiving means connected to said ring connection for successively receiving the node information signals of the other nodes through an adjacent one of the nodes by extracting a packet from said communication overhead; and control means for controlling said node information signals by extracting said node information signals from said packet for provision to said memory; wherein all of said nodes are caused to memorize said node information signals of all of the nodes into respective node information signal memories.

Claim 3

The ring network system as claimed in claim 1, wherein: each of said nodes comprises; transmitting means connected to said ring connection for transmitting the node information signal of each of said nodes to at least one adjacent node, through the said ring connection, by inserting a packet into said communication overhead; wherein said control means controls said transmitting means to insert said packet, said packet containing the node information signals memorized in said memory.

Claim 4

A ring network system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said node information signal includes an alarm signal representative of occurrence of an alarm in each of the nodes.

Claim 5

A ring network system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said ring-connection path is composed of bi-directional paths for bi-directional communications among said nodes.

Claim 6

A ring network system as claimed in claim 4, wherein each of said nodes is supplied with the node information signals through two of the nodes adjacent to each of said nodes to collect the node information signals in all of said nodes.

Claim 7

A ring network system as claimed in claim 5, wherein said node information signal memory of each of said memory has a plurality of memory areas which are assigned to the respective nodes to memorize the node information signals in the respective memory areas.

Claim 10

The method as claimed in claim 7, further comprising the step of: transmitting the node information signal of each of said nodes to at least one of the nodes adjacent to each node via said communication overhead.

Claim 11

A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein said node information signal is specified by an alarm signal.

Claim 12

A method as claimed in claim 9, further comprising the step of: monitoring, at each of said nodes, said node information signals memorized in said node information signal memory to detect whether or not said alarm signal is memorized in said node information signal memory.

Claim 13

An optical ring network system for use in telephony, said optical ring network system comprising a plurality of nodes which are connected to one another through a ring connection, and said optical ring network using a communication overhead to pass overhead information between nodes wherein the communication overhead is in addition to a main communication signal, each one of said nodes comprising: node information signal producing means for producing a node information signal representative of a state of said each one of said nodes; a node information signal memory for memorizing the node information signals of all of said nodes; receiving means connected to said ring connection for successively receiving the node information signals of the other nodes through an adjacent one of the nodes by extracting a packet from said communication overhead; and control means for controlling said node information signals by extracting said node information signals from said packet for provision to said memory; wherein all of said nodes are caused to memorize said node information signals of all of the nodes into respective node information signal memories.

Claim 14

An optical ring network system for use in telephony, said optical ring network system comprising a plurality of nodes which are connected to one another through a ring connection, and said optical ring network using a communication overhead to pass overhead information between nodes wherein the communication overhead is in addition to a main communication signal, each one of said nodes comprising: node information signal producing means for producing a node information signal representative of a state of said each one of said nodes; a node information signal memory for memorizing the node information signals of all of said nodes; receiving means connected to said ring connection for successively receiving the node information signals of the other nodes through an adjacent one of the nodes by extracting a packet from said communication overhead; and control means for controlling said node information signals by extracting said node information signals from said packet for provision to said memory; wherein all of said nodes are caused to memorize said node information signals of all of the nodes into respective node information signal memories.

Claim 15

The ring network system as claimed in claim 11, wherein: each of said nodes comprises; transmitting means connected to said ring connection for transmitting the node information signal of each of said nodes to at least one adjacent node, through the said ring connection, by inserting a packet into the communication overhead; wherein said control means controls said transmitting means to insert said packet, said packet containing the node information signals memorized in said memory.

Claim 16

The ring network system as claimed in claim 11, wherein said node information signal includes an alarm signal representative of occurrence of an alarm in each of the nodes.

Claim 17

The ring network system as claimed in claim 11, wherein said ring connection is composed of bi-directional paths for bi-directional communications among said nodes.

Claim 18

The ring network system as claimed in claim 14, wherein each of said nodes is supplied with the node information signals through two ones of the nodes adjacent to each of said nodes to collect the node information signals in all of said nodes.

Claim 19

The ring network system as claimed in claim 15, wherein said node information signal memory of each of said memory has a plurality of memory areas which are assigned to the respective nodes to memorize the node information signals in the respective memory areas.

Claim 22

The method as claimed in claim 17, further comprising the step of: transmitting the node information signal of each of said nodes to at least one of the nodes adjacent to each node via the communication overhead.

Claim 23

The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein said node information signal is specified by an alarm signal.

Claim 24

The method as claimed in claim 19, further comprising the step of: monitoring, in each of said nodes, said node information signals memorized in said node information signal memory to detect whether or not said alarm signal is memorized in said node information signal memory.