International Telecommunication Union

ITU-T

Ethernet OAM and Protection

Switching

Hiroshi Ohta
Senior Research Engineer, NTT

ITU-T Workshop NGN and its Transport Networks

Kobe, 20-21 April 2006
 Why Ethernet became popular among carriers?

ITU-T
o Reduced equipment costs
o Ethernet as a universal interfacing
technology
o Can carry any protocol other than IP
o Recent improvement of bridges
High-speed IF (1G, 10G)
Long distance IF (-40km)
Advanced access capabilities (EFM)
More scalable bridges (802.1ad)
o ... however, OAM capability was limited.
ITU-T Workshop NGN and its Transport Networks
Kobe, 20-21 April 2006 2
 What are OAM (Operation and Maintenance) functions?

ITU-T
o OAM functions include:
Defect detection
Defect information notification
Defect localization/isolation
System protection
Performance management
o ... without these capabilities, it is almost
impossible to provide "carrier-class" services
o OAM is a "must" for carriers

ITU-T Workshop NGN and its Transport Networks

Kobe, 20-21 April 2006 3
 Recent standardization status

ITU-T
o ITU-T SG13 consented in Jan. 2006 meeting:
Y.1731 (Ethernet OAM)
o ITU-T SG15 consented in Feb. 2006 meeting:
G.8031 (Ethernet protection)
G.8010 amendment 1 (Ethernet architecture)
G.8021 amendment 1 (Ethernet equipment)
o IEEE 802.1ag (CFM):
Draft 6.1, Under WG ballot

ITU-T Workshop NGN and its Transport Networks

Kobe, 20-21 April 2006 4
 Y.1731 (Ethernet OAM mechanisms) - 1

ITU-T
o Y.1731 is a superset of IEEE 802.1ag
o Both Y.1731 and IEEE 802.1ag specify
CC (Continuity Check): loss of connectivity defect
detection
LB (Loopback): defect localization
LT (Link Trace): verification of network configuration

ITU-T Workshop NGN and its Transport Networks

Kobe, 20-21 April 2006 5
 Y.1731 (Ethernet OAM mechanisms) - 2

ITU-T
o Y.1731 also specifies:
Fault management
AIS (Alarm Indication Signal): Alarm suppression
Test: throughput, frame loss and bit error measurement
LCK (Locked): indication of service unavailability due to
maintenance activities
MCC (Maintenance Communication Channel)
EXP (Experimental OAM)
VSP (Vendor Specific OAM)
Performance management
LM (Loss measurement): frame loss measurement
DM (Delay measurement): frame delay measurement

ITU-T Workshop NGN and its Transport Networks

Kobe, 20-21 April 2006 6
 Y.1731 vs. IEEE 802.1ag

ITU-T
o Same specifications (although the ways of
description are different)
CC, LB, LT
o OAM frame is identified by a specific EtherType.
IEEE 802.1ag specifies this value.
o Each OAM function is identified by the value of the
"OpCode" field.
32 code points are reserved for IEEE 802.1ag
Other 32 code points for ITU-T.

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Kobe, 20-21 April 2006 7
ITU-T

OAM mechanisms

ITU-T Workshop NGN and its Transport Networks

Kobe, 20-21 April 2006 8
 MEG levels

ITU-T

Multiple MEG levels are defined to allow running OAM in different spans

ITU-T Workshop NGN and its Transport Networks

Kobe, 20-21 April 2006 9
 CC (Continuity Check) - 1

ITU-T
Customer Operator A Operator B Customer
Equipment Bridges Bridges Equipment
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

CC frames
ETH

ETH or
SRV

MEP MIP
MEP transmits CC frames periodically.
If a MEP does not receive any CC frames for 3.5 times of the CC frame
transmission interval, it declares an alarm (loss of connectivity)

ITU-T Workshop NGN and its Transport Networks

Kobe, 20-21 April 2006 10
 CC (Continuity Check) - 2

ITU-T Each receiving MEP

Each MEP sends CC detects loss of CC frames
frames to all other MEPs and unexpected CC frames

MEP (MEG end point)

MIP (MEG intermediate point)

CC can be used for defect detection in multipoint-to-multipoint networks.

ITU-T Workshop NGN and its Transport Networks

Kobe, 20-21 April 2006 11
 LB (Loopback)

ITU-T
Operator
Customer Operator B Customer
Equipment Operator A Equipment
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Case1) MEP to MEP

ETH
Case2) MEP to MIP

LB is mainly used for connectivity verification changing the test span.

ITU-T Workshop NGN and its Transport Networks

Kobe, 20-21 April 2006 12
 LT (Link Trace)

ITU-T
Operator
Customer Operator B Customer
Equipment Operator A Target Bridge Equipment
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
p1 p2

p1 p1 p2 p1 p2
p3
10 11 12 13 14

p1 p2

ETH

LT is mainly used for verifying the network configuration.

ITU-T Workshop NGN and its Transport Networks

Kobe, 20-21 April 2006 13
 AIS (Alarm Indication Signal)

ITU-T

AIS is used for alarm suppression by notifying the bridges in downstream of

the existence of the defect and of the fact that it has already been reported
(and as such, bridges in downstream need to take no action).

ITU-T Workshop NGN and its Transport Networks

Kobe, 20-21 April 2006 14
 Test signal

ITU-T
Customer Customer
Equipment Equipment
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

ETH

ETH or
SRV

Test signal generation

Test signal detection/measurement
Supports in-service and out-of-service test
Defines Test OAM frames, which includes sequence number and PN pattern for
frame loss and bit error measurement
Bidirectional Test frame uses the same OpCode as the LB (Loopback) OAM frame

ITU-T Workshop NGN and its Transport Networks

Kobe, 20-21 April 2006 15
 G.8031 (Ethernet protection switching)

ITU-T
o Defines bidirectional 1+1/1:1 and unidirectional 1+1 protection switching.
o This version covers point-to-point protection switching only.

Protected ETH#A SNC

WEST ETH#A (Normal Traffic) EAST

Working Transport Entity (for ETH#A)

ETH#A (Normal Traffic)

Protection Transport Entity (for ETH#A)

SNC ETH_FF SNC
ETH_FF ETH_FP
Protection Protection
Switching Switching
Process Process

1:1 bidirectional protection switching architecture

ITU-T Workshop NGN and its Transport Networks

Kobe, 20-21 April 2006 16
 Conclusion

ITU-T
o Ethernet is now widely used by carriers.
o Its OAM capabilities were limited but ITU-T
consented Ethernet OAM and other related Draft
Recommendations recently.
o Recommendations on Ethernet architecture,
Ethernet equipment and Ethernet services are also
under work. These standards are expected to
become available soon.
o These Ethernet-related standards enhance
advantages and attractiveness of Ethernet as a
transport technology for NGN.

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Kobe, 20-21 April 2006 17