Telecommunications network distributed restoration method and system

The present invention relates generally to telecommunications systems and their methods of operation and, more particularly, to a method and system for dynamically restoring communications traffic through a telecommunications network and, even more specifically, to a distributed restoration method and system for restoring communications traffic flow in response to sensing a failure within spans of the telecommunications network. A network wherein a plurality of links connects a plurality of nodes such as cross-connects in a communication circuit network with paths interconnecting the nodes, and with there being spare capacity between a sufficient number of nodes to accommodate at least some rerouting of traffic immediately upon detection of a break in a traffic span in the network so as to restore circuit continuity within a predetermined maximum time using an improved failure detection, isolation, and recovery scheme.