data streams in opposite directions about the sonet ring 4 the communication paths 8 a 8 b are preferably fiber optic connections in sonet and sdh but could alternatively be electrical paths or even wireless connections in other types of networks in the case of a fiber optic connection paths 8 a 8 b could be implemented on a single fiber 8 on dual fibers 8 a 8 b or some other combination of connections in the dual fiber implementation one of the fibers could be the working ring and the other fiber could be the protection ring the communication paths 8 a 8 b comprise one or more transport network paths for transporting data from one node 6 to another node 6 in the network the transport network 4 in this example is only capable of providing sts 1 transport paths sts 3c transport paths sts 12c transport paths or sts 48c transport paths in the ring 4 each network element 6 is preferably coupled to two other network elements 6 in the ring structure for example network element n 2 is coupled to network elements n 1 and n 3 the coupling between the elements is two way meaning that each element transmits and receives signals to and from each of the two other elements 6 to which it is connected each network element 6 includes at least two transmitter receiver interfaces one for each connection to another element 6 the network elements 6 could be many types of well known network devices such as an add drop multiplex u201c adm u201d switch router a sma a marconi mcn 7000 network.