TCM control for physical layer on OTU ports

A method comprising:

• receiving a specific defect from interface circuitry;
• propagating the specific defect from the interface circuitry to an interface associated with a modem including a physical port connected to a network, wherein the network includes Optical Transport Network (OTN), and wherein the propagating is via processing circuitry that includes an Optical Channel Data Unit level k (ODUk) TCM x function (x=1 to 6) connected to the interface circuitry, and the specific defect is one of a Tandem Connection Monitor (TCM) defect and a Server Signal Fail (SSF) defect;
• and
• selectively disabling a laser in the modem based on the specific defect from the interface circuitry, wherein the ODUk TCM x function is configured to propagate an Alarm Indication Signal (AIS) towards the modem, responsive to the specific defect from the interface circuitry, in addition to causing the laser to be disabled.

A network element comprising:

• a modem including a physical port connected to a network, wherein the network includes Optical Transport Network (OTN);
• processing circuitry communicatively coupled to the modem for implementing a plurality of OTN-related functions;
• interface circuitry communicatively coupled to the processing circuitry;
• and
• an interface in the processing circuitry configured to detect a specific defect from the interface circuitry,
• wherein the interface is connected to the modem and the modem is configured to selectively disable a laser based on the specific defect from the interface circuitry, and wherein the processing circuitry includes an Optical Channel Data Unit level k (ODUk) TCM x function (x=1 to 6) connected to the interface circuitry, and the specific defect includes one of a Tandem Connection Monitor (TCM) defect and a Server Signal Fail (SSF) defect,
• wherein the processing circuitry further includes an Optical Transport Function level k (OTUk) function between the ODUk TCM x function and the modem, wherein the interface is through the OTUk function.