Patent · US Active

Methods and arrangement in a MPLS-TP telecommunications network for OAM functions

US8774009B2 · kind B2 · utility

2Cited by
0References
30Claims
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Key dates

Filing dateJul 24, 2009
Grant dateJul 8, 2014
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 25, 2029

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L45/26
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Extensions to a Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) frame forwarding procedure in an MPLS node are described. A context descriptor is defined for each frame received on a connection terminated at that node, and where this context descriptor is provided together with the frame to a corresponding function (e.g. Operations, Administration and Maintenance, OAM) if needed. The context descriptor is constructed based on key attributes characterizing the terminated connection, over which the frame is received, and addresses a particular function endpoint (Maintenance Endpoints (MEPs), Selector Bridge of a protection instance etc.) of a corresponding function (OAM, protection, etc.). In one embodiment, a Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) node is directed to check not only the first but also the second label, and not to drop the first label (and the label space if relevant) when the second label is the Generic Association Channel Label (GAL). In this way, the original context of the packet is kept (i.e. the information relating to the connection over which the packet was received), and can be used for de-multiplexing to the corresponding MEP. Then the identifiers within the OAM payloa…

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