In a packet-switched network having a plurality of nodes interconnected by links,
pre-defined protection paths provide protection of a selected plurality of links.
Adjacent nodes connected by a protected link are adapted to detect a failure of
the protected link, to encapsulate packets within tunnel packets, to differentiate
between tunnel packets and non-tunnel packets and to exchange the tunnel packets
via a protection path rather than via the failed link. This results in faster automatic
protection switching of packet-based traffic. The invention is particularly suited
to an Internet Protocol network.
