Embodiments herein include methods and apparatuses for providing optical channel protection by a switching controller in an optical networking system. The switching controller may receive, from a light module, a digital fault status message that indicates whether a digital frame demodulated from an optical signal include a fault. The switching controller may receive from an Optical Supervisory Channel (OSC) module, an Optical Layer Defect Propagation (OLDP) status message that indicates an OSC status of the optical signal on a current optical path. The switching controller may receive, from an Optical Add Drop Multiplexer (OADM) module, an optical power status message that indicates a measured power level of the optical signal on the optical path. Based on at least one of the OLDP status, the optical power status, or the digital fault status message, the switching controller may determine the optical path as a working path or a protecting path.
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