Patent · US Expired

Operations, administration and maintenance (OAM) systems and methods for packet switched data networks

US7177325B2 · kind B2 · utility

63Cited by
6References
6Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateJul 25, 2002
Grant dateFeb 13, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 16, 2025

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L2001/0095
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The invention includes a protocol, systems and methods for operating, administering, and maintaining (OAM) physical links in a network that carries packet switched data. A network control point implementing the protocol assigns addresses to all ports of the network, discovers network topology and capabilities, and initializes remote parameters through OAM frames sent to the ports. The OAM protocol maintains all physical transmission links through the communication of OAM frames with information concerning link errors and the status of ports and boxes. The OAM frame has a preamble that is an inverse of a preamble of a data frame, allowing decoupling of the OAM and data services. The OAM frames are initiated and terminated at the physical layer of the network. Ports of the network may include ASIC integrated circuits that create, transmit, receive, and process the OAM frames at the physical layer of the ports.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.